Kuala Lumpur 2245hrs - After a shaky first half which saw our national team down by 4 points 43-47, the Nokia Pilipinas RP Youth Team pulled their act together to give defending champion Malaysia its first numbing loss 98-67.

The crucial turnaround happened in the third quarter when our boys buckled down to business and clamp down on defense limiting Malaysia to only 4 points in the entire quarter. Power forward Gabriel Banal, son of coach Joel Banal (who was also rooting among the pinoy OFW crowd) shot  the vital point that tied the two teams 49 all on his free throw and from that moment on the host team's defense degenerated as he (Banal) together with Norberto Torres, Kyle Pascual, Joseph Emmanuel Tolentino, Samuel Joseph Marata, and Mark Joel de Guzman combined for a 29 point explosion that saw the team up at the end of the third quarter 72-51.

A zealous pinoy OFW crowd led by Consul Marford Angeles came to provide the team with invaluable moral support. And though they were grossly outnumbered by a home team mob that was there in full force due to the holiday (May 1 Labor Day) our OFW brothers and sisters, filling only one fourth of the stadium, refused to be drowned out and cheered and screamed at every hard earned point the team put in. Team Malaysia lost two of its star players duw to cramps at the beginning minutes of the fourth quarter which contributed greatly to the teams offensive effectivity. Coach Franz Pumaren at the end credited the boys superior physical conditioning as the key to this victory. "The worst is not yet over as our team is set to square off with Thailand tomorrow" says Pumaren. "That's why I'm sending them off to bed early right after our victory dinner with Mr. Jun Sy".

Quarter scores: 1st quarter: Malaysia 27 Philippines 19, 2nd quarter: Malaysia 20 Philippines 24, 3rd quarter: Malaysia 4 Philippines 29, 4th Quarter: Malaysia 16 Philippines 26. Total: Malaysia 67 Philippines 98

Individual scores: Garcia: 9, Manguera: 5, Sangalang: 7, Terso: 2, J. Mendoza: 4, Marata: 9, Golla: 7, De Guzman: 11, Tolentino: 9, Pascual: 10, Torres: 9, Banal: 16