Cecil Mamiit, left, and Fil-American Treat Huey celebrate their doubles win against Thailand Saturday night with chest bumps. The win clinched for the Philippines the team gold medal in the Laos Southeast Asian Games. (Albert Garcia)

VIENTIANE, Laos — Facing matchpoint on his serve against a pair they haven’t beaten, Cecil Mamiit had one thing going on his mind.

“I thought of Korat (Thailand), how Eric (Taino) and I came close to beating them. I did not want to lose again,” said Mamiit the morning after their gruelling win over Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana in the men’s tennis team final in the 25th Southeast Asian Games.

Mamiit saved the only matchpoint he and Treat Huey faced and won the next two points to force the tiebreak which they dominated.

The 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 doubles win gave the Philippines its lone gold medal Saturday, but not without enduring eight hours, 80 games and two tiebreaks that ended close to midnight.

Mamiit said losing the second singles to Thai rival Danai Udomchoke made him angry at himself.

Huey had earlier won the first singles against Kittiphong Wachiramanowong, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, only to lose the advantage when Mamiit was outplayed by Udomchoke, 4-6, 2-6.

“I got overly excited after Huey won. I didn’t play well,” Mamiit admitted.

Mamiit dropped his serve as the Filipinos lost the first set of the decisive doubles.

“We had to do something, find a way to win,” he said.

RP coach Chris Cuarto dared his players to match the Thais’ cockiness on the court.

“Don’t allow them to get into your nerves. Challenge them, be aggressive, don’t allow yourself to be pushed around,” Cuarto remembered telling Mamiit and Huey.

Playing with more intensity, the Filipinos broke the Thais right on the first game and went on to force the rubber and the resulting tiebreak.

The Thai twins lost a match for the first time in the Games. They beat Mamiit and Taino in consecutive Games finals in Manila in 2005 and in Korat in 2007. They also beat the pair in the semifinals of the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.

Mamiit, who at 33 is in the twilight of his career, praised his new partner.

“He’s young and plays solid,” said Mamiit who is playing his final stint in the Games. “I’m still playing the Asian Games next year, but after that, I don’t know.”

Before hanging his rackets, Mamiit said he wants to win a doubles title.

“I have won the singles and mixed doubles, but never the men’s doubles. With our win yesterday, we’re confident we can get the job done,” he said.

Seeded second behind the twins in doubles, Mamiit and the 24-year-old Huey drew a bye in the quarterfinals and play the winner between Surya Wijaya Bud-Sunu Wahyu Trija of Indonesia and Le Quoc Khanh-Do-Minh Quan of Vietnam.

Singles and doubles competition begins Sunday with Denise Dy and the pair of Johnny Arcilla and Patrick Tierro seeing action.