Successfully stopping naturalized player Justin Brownlee served as the key to New Zealand’s masterful 87-70 victory over Gilas Pilipinas in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers last Sunday at the Spark Arena in Auckland.

Tall Blacks head coach Judd Flavell made special mention of his defenders, saying that their collective effort, especially in shackling Brownlee, paved the way for the victory that gave them the top spot in Group B heading into the prestigious continental tourney in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in August.

Reuben Te Rangi, a hard-nosed defender who competes professionally in Australia, was given the tough task of stopping the do-it-all Barangay Ginebra import in the most crucial game of the qualifiers.

Then, Max Darling and Jordan Ngatai took turns in defending Brownlee, prompting him to bleed offensively with only 10 points on 5-of-8 field goal shooting in 34 minutes of action, far from the 39-point explosion he had in their 84-91 loss to Chinese Taipei.

Brownlee also got bullied in the shaded lanes as he pulled down only four rebounds.

“Shout out to our group and match-ups with Brownlee in particular. He was No. 1 — the tiger guy. How he goes, I believe, is how the Philippines goes in a large part,” Flavell said following the victory that was witnessed by a capacity crowd, most of them Filipinos.

‘We want to be up on the floor. We want to be pressuring the basketball. We just can’t allow teams to feel comfortable.’

“And the guys, Reuben (Te Rangi) had that match-up, Max (Darling), Jordan (Ngatai) at different times, I think, did a phenomenal job and that’s who we are.”

He said they took the unenviable job of stopping Brownlee as an opportunity to showcase their toughness and resilience as a team.

“We love those match-ups. No disrespect to Brownlee, but we live for those opportunities to go ahead and have that match-up,” the four-time New Zealand National Basketball League champion coach said.

“We want to be up on the floor. We want to be pressuring the basketball. We just can’t allow teams to feel comfortable.”

Gilas coach Tim Cone acknowledges the defensive effort done by the Brownlee stoppers, saying that they will definitely treat it as a lesson as they make a strong run in the FIBA Asia Cup.

In fact, he is looking to make some key adjustments, especially with their man in the middle in 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto sidelined with a season-ending knee injury.