New Zealand held off Gilas Pilipinas’ spirited fourth-quarter fightback to essay a thrilling 69-66 escape in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.    

The Tall Blacks avenged their defeat at the hands of the host team two years ago with a strong second-half showing after a tight first two quarters to barge into the win column in Group A after three starts.

Reuben Te Rangi drained a crucial split from the charity line with seven seconds left to give the Kiwis a three-point separation, enough to force Gilas to look for a three-pointer to force overtime. Dwight Ramos’ halfcourt heave, however, rattled off the rim as time expired.  

Gilas saw its two-game romp come to an end despite holding down New Zealand to just 12 points in the final canto and cutting an 11-point deficit to just two, 68-66, off a Ramos putback with eight ticks left.

The Tim Cone-mentored Nationals will try to bounce back on Sunday against unbeaten Australia at the same venue.

“We got to learn from this and look forward to our game against Australia,” said Ramos, who finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

CJ Perez had 15 markers while Juan Gomez de Liano debuted with 10 points for Gilas, which barely felt the presence of naturalized player Justin Brownlee.

“We put up a good fight. We gave out best but it’s just unfortunate we didn’t get the win,” Perez said.

It was a bad night for Brownlee as he finished with four points on 2-of-10 field goal shooting. He scored his first basket with nine minutes left in the third quarter and made his second and only other bucket in the last period. 

The Kiwis clamped down on defense in the third quarter and limited the Filipinos to just nine points to erect an 11-point lead, 57-46, entering the payoff period.

Max Darling finished with 11 points, Sam Menengga had a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds while Alex McNaught got 10 markers as the Tall Blacks got payback from an 89-93 loss to Gilas in the second window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in 21 November 2024.   

Gilas was slow in the first six and a half minutes of the second quarter, scoring only six points and allowing the Tall Blacks to build a 10-point lead multiple times.

New Zealand was in control, 37-27, after Alex McNaugh nailed a trey with 3:29 left.

Energized by the roar of the crowd, Gilas rallied behind Dwight Ramos’ six points in the 10-0 counter.

Ramos drained his two free throws before sinking another basket followed by a Calvin Oftana corner triple. AJ Edu swished in a turnaround jumper before Ramos knotted it at 37 with 39 seconds left off a jumper.

Gilas had two chances to retake the lead before the halftime break but Ramos and Scottie Thompson missed their potential go-ahead triples as time expired.

Brownlee was scoreless in the first half in 18 minutes of action, missing all five of his field goal attempts.

Gilas went off to a hot start, taking a 14-7 advantage on a Juan Gomez de Liano layup with 5:05 left in the first period.

The Tall Blacks mounted an 11-4 counterattack to tie it at 18 before Gomez de Liano knocked down a trey that put Gilas back on top. New Zealand fired back seven unanswered points to grab a four-point advantage to end the opening canto. 

###