Justin Brownlee of Gilas Plipinas in action vs New Zealand. FIBA photo
First blood
WINLESS no more.
After eight long years, Gilas Pilipinas finally tasted victory against world No. 22 New Zealand, posting an inspiring 93-89 victory in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Led by Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto, the Filipinos delivered a masterful performance infront of a wildly-cheerng home crowd and came away with their first-ever victory over the Tall Blacks.
Brownlee finished with a double-double performance with a game-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks in 37 minutes of play.
But it was not all Brownlee for the Filipinos and coach Tim Cone.
The 7-3 Sotto played one of his best games in the Gilas uniform as he came through with a near triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two blocks.
Former PBA MVP Scottie Thompson finished with 12 points, six assists and four rebounds while Chris Newsome and Dwight Ramos added 11 points each.
PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo had six points and three rebounds.
Former NBA player Corey Webster led New Zealand with 25 points, but only had two in the final quarter. He did finish on a 5-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while adding five assists.
Former Converge importThomas Vodanovich and Sam Waardenburg added 19 points each.
Waardenburg also had seven rebounds for Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell.
The Filipinos looked supremyl confident even against the more-expereinced Tall Blacks, unleashing a back-breaking 16-0 run to turn a 56-60 deficit into a 72-60 advantage.
“It’s a tough one. They (Tall Blacks) are really good. They are incredibly physical and I think that’s the no. 1 thing we have to battle through,” said Cone, whoo took over the coaching chores from Chot Reyes last year.
“So to overcome that and to find a way to win was really special. Special because of our home court, our home crowd, and the people watching. There were a lot of attention on the game and our game were, you know, pressured to win. And our players found a way. And I’m proud of them.”
Gilas are now 3-0 in Group B while the Tall Blacks fell to 2-1.
The FIlipinos can formally clinch a spot in the Asia Cup proper with another win against winless HongKong on Sunday at the same Pasay venue.
The scores:
Gilas Pilipinas (93) — Brownlee 26, Sotto 19, Thompson 12, Newsome 11, Ramos 11, Fajardo 6, Perez 3, Oftana 3, Tamayo 2, Aguilar 0.
New Zealand (89) — Webster 25, Vodanovich 19, Waardenburg 19, Britt 8, Le’afa 6, Brown 5, Harris 3, Cameron 2, Harrison 2.
Quarterscores: 20-22; 45-45; 72-63; 93-89.
Game Sunday:
(Mall of Asia Arena)
7:30 p.m.– Philippines vs. Hong Kong
