Gilas overcomes Saudis, sets up QF match vs Australia

Down three in the waning seconds of a crucial game against a host team backed by a loud and intimidating home crowd, other teams would have crumbled under intense pressure.

But not Gilas Pilipinas -- definitely, not Justin Brownlee.

National team head coach Tim Cone wished Gilas wouldn’t need to channel its signature “never-say-die spirit” in facing a surprisingly good Saudi Arabia squad in an all-important battle for a quarterfinal ticket.

The Nationals did, however. And Cone is not complaining.

Brownlee rescued Gilas Pilipinas from the jaws of defeat in regulation before the young guns provided the finishing touches to engineer an epic 95-88 overtime escape over the Saudis to advance to the next round of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup early Tuesday (Manila) at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

“By all rights, they had the game won. Except for the guy sitting to my right. Hits the big shot,” a relieved Cone said of the prized naturalized player.

Trailing by three points in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter, 76-79, Brownlee drained a cold-blooded well-challenged three-pointer off a timeout with 3.7 seconds left before Gilas made a good stop to send the qualifying match into an extension.

Kevin Quiambao, who was scoreless in the second half, hit two huge treys in overtime while AJ Edu and Dwight Ramos also contributed key baskets in the extra quarter to send the down to 10-man Gilas into the quarterfinal against three-peat-seeking Australia.

“It’s a familiar play we’ve been drawing up. I just tried to be aggressive on it and see whatever open opportunity I can. Got to give a lot of credit to Saudi, they came out and played great defense. But, somehow, I just shot it and it went in,” Brownlee said after dropping 29 points on 11-of-16 field goal shooting with five assists and four rebounds.

“But this win is a great team win. A lot of guys contributed to this win. And I’m just happy for the whole team. I’m happy that we can advance,” Brownlee added.