Gilas Pilipinas wrapped up its pair of tune-up games in New Zealand with another rout after taming the host Franklin Bulls, 94-66, on Tuesday at the Franklin Pool and Leisure Centre.

Gilas head coach Tim Cone once again kept naturalized player Justin Brownlee on the bench for the second straight friendly as Gilas heads into the last stretch of its preparation for the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier.

The decorated tactician also rested young forward Mike Phillips but the Philippines still cruised to an easy win over the local National Basketball League club in front of a sizeable Filipino crowd.

Gilas maintained its aggressiveness and hot shooting in the first half and bullied the Bulls with a stronger finishing kick to sweep its two-game friendlies and march into the third window oozing with momentum.

Despite playing with a 10-man rotation, Gilas managed to control the game early as it built a 13-point lead to end the opening quarter.

Flexing its inside-outside game and controlling the battle at the boards behind behemoth June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu, Cone’s crew kept its distance for a 50-37 separation at halftime to dictate the tempo the rest of the way.

Carl Tamayo fired 13 of the Filipinos’ 32 first-quarter points as the visiting squad managed to stretch the lead to as many as 31 points, 92-61, in the final stretch.

Kevin Quiambao contributed nine points, five assists and three rebounds while Juan Gomez de Liano and Justine Baltazar added eight and seven markers, respectively, for the undermanned Filipinos.

The Philippines opened its friendlies with a 92-61 drubbing of another NBL club, the Manawatu Jets, last Sunday.

Quiambao, Tamayo and Troy Rosario anchored Gilas’ offense over the Jets with double-digit productions.

Phillips debuted with eight points in the first tune-up match but was given time to rest before his first official FIBA-sanctioned outing.

Gilas built its confidence heading into the final two days of its build-up for the much-anticipated rematch against New Zealand on Friday.

The Pinoy cagers are in a two-game losing skid and are tied with the Tall Blacks in Group A standings with an even 2-2 win-loss card.

Gilas, however, has dropped all of its last four meetings against New Zealand, including a sorry, 66-69, heartbreaker last February at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Cone is hoping the four-day training camp in Brisbane, Australia and the final buildup in New Zealand will be enough to get back at the Kiwis.

The Philippines last won over the Tall Blacks with a 93-89 upset in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier second window back on 21 November 2024.

After taking on New Zealand, Gilas will fly back to Australia to face the Boomers on 6 July in Perth.