Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone couldn’t help but marvel at the kind of player Chris Newsome is.

Playing a backup role did not stop the Meralco star from making huge contributions to the national cause.

Newsome was at the forefront of Gilas’ 93-89 victory over world No. 22 New Zealand as he nailed a crucial trey with 1:09 remaining to help the Filipinos preserve their unbeaten streak in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers Thursday night at the packed Mall of Asia Arena.

“That’s a luxury to have a guy like that coming off the bench,” Cone said of the 34-year-old Filipino-American.

Newsome’s performance, however, did not come as a surprise to Cone.

The two-way guard had a stellar outing despite being converted to main ball handler in the absence of Scottie Thompson during Gilas’ campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Even with Thompson back in the fold, Newsome remained a vital cog in Cone’s system albeit in a relief role.

“We saw how good he was coming from the OQT as a starter. And then Scottie took over for him but he took that rein,” the decorated mentor said.

Newsome finished with 11 points including the triple that gave Gilas the much-needed separation, 91-84, to freeze the Tall Blacks’ late rally.

Aside from his offense, Cone also lauded Newsome, who was the hero in the Bolts’ first-ever Philippine Basketball Association title when he drained the championship-clinching jumper in Game 6 of the Philippine Cup finals against San Miguel Beer, for doing a great job defending New Zealand’s main gunner Corey Webster.

A difficult undertaking that got him into foul trouble.

“It hurt us because Chris got into foul trouble. He got his fourth foul early in the third quarter and we had to sit him on the bench but CJ (Perez) came out and made some things happen for us. We had Dwight (Ramos) and Scottie carrying the load without New. Scottie had to go over and guard Webster, their NBA guy,” Cone said.