THE Philippines survived a scare before pulling off an 87-72 win over Southeast Asian rival Thailand for its second straight win in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

PBA Best Import Justin Brownlee finished with 22 points for the Filipinos despite still playing hurt from a surgically-repaired foot that hasn’t fully healed.

CJ Perez added 16 points and June Mar Fajardo contributed nine points.

Brownlee struck with five points, including a crucial three-point shot, while Perez and Chris Newsome added two points each in a decisive 9-3 scoring run that enabled the Filipinos to turn a precarious 70-65 advantage into a 79-68 lead and stave off the Thais’ determined comeback.

The Filipinos debuted with an 89-61 triumph over Bahrain last Tuesday.

Jordan, led by TNT Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, routed Bahrain, 84-60, to keep a share of the lead with the Philippines.

The all-important clash between the Philippines and Jordan is set on Saturday Sept. 30 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center.

Gilas head coach Tim Cone said he was satisfied with the victory despite the team’s struggles.

“We’re not here for pogi points,” said Cone in an interview with sportswriters after the game.

“We’re not here to try and win by 50 and impress everybody. No, we’re a team that came together quickly and our expectations are to win each game by one point. That’s it. If we win a game by one point, that’s all we care about.”

He added: “And it felt like a one-point win today.” added.

The Filipinos were comfortably ahead with a huge 21-point margin at 68-47 following four straight points by Perez and Fajardo.

A three-pointer by Frederick Lish, however, cut the deficit to 50-68 entering the final frame.

Then, the Thais came charging back.

A 13-0 run — a floater by Lish, a putback layup by Anasawe Klarwnarong, another three-pointer by Lish, a triple by Nattakarn Muangboon and a triple of his own by Jeremy Lamb — suddenly made the game close and interesting at 63-68.

An Ange Kouame two-pointer, however, made it 70-63 for the Filipinos.

Although Lish had a quick answer to keep the score close, 65-70, Brownlee came through with a three-pointer and Perez attacked the paint to make it another double-digit lead for Gilas, 76-65.

Lamb and Lish shared scoring honors with 28 and 22 points for Thailand, which also lost 63-97 to Jordan and dropped to 0-2.

“They came out with the idea they were gonna shoot a lot of threes, and Tyler Lamb got hot early,” said Cone.

“I thought we had a good challenge on a lot of those threes but they still went in, so you gotta tip your cap. They shot the ball well today.”

Cone also noted the Filipinos’ dismal 32 of 82 shooting.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well and that’s what made the game close. We had to battle, try to play inside, use our size, and they were out there trying to shoot threes. Bottom line is we won, and we’re not gonna question wins too many times.”

The scores:

Philippines (87) – Brownlee 22, Perez 16, Fajardo 9, Oftana 8, Thompson 7, Aguilar 6, Newsome 5, Kouame 5, Alas 3, Tolentino 3, Lassiter 3, Ross 0
Thailand (72) – Lamb 29, Lish 22, Muangboon 6, Morgan 5, Jakrawan 4, Klahan 4, Klaewnarong 2, Boonserm 0, Jaisanuk 0, Towaroj 0
Quarterscores: 20-22, 41-35, 68-50, 87-72