Gilas falls to New Zealand, remains winless

Gilas Pilipinas put up a gallant stand but still came up short against New Zealand, 86–94, in Group D of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup early Friday (Manila time) at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee rallied Gilas back from 18 points down in the first half to just three with under four minutes left in the final period.

However, the Tall Blacks answered with five straight points and kept the Filipinos scoreless for three minutes to notch their second straight win in as many outings.

Gilas went down to a 0-2 win-loss record despite the 37-point effort of Brownlee.  

“Tough loss for us,” said Brownlee, who shot 12-of-19 from the field including seven three-pointers.

“You’ve got to give New Zealand a lot of credit. They came out in the first half playing extremely well and hit some threes on us. We fought back but they withstood our fight.”      

Gilas outscored the Kiwis, 27-19, in the third quarter to enter the final canto just behind by six.

Brownlee led a furious fourth quarter rally, nailing a trey with 3:48 left to cap an 8-0 run that pushed Gilas within three, 82-85.

The Tall Blacks weathered the storm with a good defensive effort in the succeeding plays while hitting crucial baskets to keep Gilas at bay.

New Zealand will face unbeaten Chinese Taipei, which beat Iraq, 87-60, despite Chen Ying-Chun going scoreless after dropping 34 against Gilas last Wednesday, in a virtual battle for an outright quarterfinal seat on Saturday.

Dwight Ramos had 19 points while center June Mar Fajardo scored 11 in a lost cause for Gilas, which needs to win its final group stage match against Iraq on Saturday to advance into the knockout round.

The Tall Blacks unleashed a barrage of threes in the first half, hitting 9-of-15 from beyond the arc to keep a safe distance.

Gilas trailed by as many as 18 points, 37-55, with 1:14 left in the second canto after Jack Andew knocked down a triple.   

Jordan Ngatai shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the three-point area in the first 20 minutes of the game to lead the attack of the Kiwis.

Fajardo and Kevin Quiambao scored back-to-back baskets to cut down Gilas deficit to 41-55 heading into the halftime break.

Ngatai converted all of his five triples and finished with 22 points to lead New Zealand.

Taylor Britt had 19 points and seven assists, Flynn Cameron got 12 points and Mojave Jackson King added 11 points for the Kiwis, who replicated their win over Gilas last February in the third and final window of the Asia Cup qualifiers.