YANGON, MYANMAR – The Nokia-Pilipinas youth squad hardly broke out a sweat in dumping Laos, 133-30, to move a win away from clinching the Southeast Asia Basketball Association Under-18 crown at the Thuwonna National Stadium here.

The Filipinos showed their dominance from start to finish and played no mercy against Laos, a team known for its strong program in football, but atrocious in the game of basketball.

Using their full-court trapping defense and solid transition game to the hilt, the Filipinos were able to dictate the game early. The match was virtually over as early as the first 10 minutes of play as RP Youth established a 49-7 lead and was never seriously threatened from there.

The Filipinos play Thailand in a winner-take-all match Friday.

Earlier, Thailand primed itself for a tough battle against the Filipinos by winning its third win in four outings -- a 75-68 triumph over Malaysia.

Singapore also kept its hopes of making it to the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship in Yemen following a 78-70 win over Myanmar in the first game.

“The boys played the way we wanted it. Our defense also made the big difference," said coach Eric Altamirano after the win fashioned before a handful of Filipino crowd here that included people from the Phlippine Embassy headed by Ma. Hellen Barber.

It was the fourth win in as many outings for the Filipinos, whose victories here came in runaway fashion.

Raphael Banal finished with 15 points. Kevin Ferrer led all scorers with with 23 points. - RCJ, GMANews.TV