Down went Gilas Pilipinas.

The Filipinos had their heroic moments inside the sold-out Spark Arena that rocked like home.

But even those highlight reels weren’t enough to buy a victory against a tough-as-nails host squad, New Zealand, which protected its turf in Auckland down to the last play.

The Tall Blacks withstood Gilas’ scary test in a narrow 106-102 double overtime escape for a successful homestand in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier on Friday.

New Zealand strung its third straight victory for a 3-2 win-loss record in Group A and sent Gilas reeling to a third defeat in a row for a 2-3 slate.

“It would’ve been nice to be able to come down here and steal a game. That would’ve been special,” Gilas head coach Tim Cone said after his squad fell victim to Kiwis for a fifth straight time in their head-to-head and second consecutive time in the Asian Qualifier since another close-shaved result in the second window five months ago.

“The fact that we got as close as we did, obviously, it’s a huge disappointment. Once you feel that’s in your grasp and let it slip away, that makes it tough,” Cone added.

A key defensive stop in the closing stretch of the second extension resulted in Gilas naturalized player Justin Brownlee giving up a costly unsportsmanlike foul in the last 10.6 seconds, giving the Kiwis the opening to put away the win that lasted nearly three hours.

New Zealand erased the Philippines’ four-point lead, 100-94, after a Brownlee trey — his second field goal in just three attempts off a hellish outing — with 2:05 left in the game with a decisive 8-2 run.

Sam Mennenga capped the rally with back-to-back baskets, including the go-ahead putback off a Carlin Davison miss for a 104-102 lead in the last 14.3 seconds.

Juan Gomez De Liaño, who saved Gilas in regulation and almost won the game for the visiting team in the first overtime, fumbled on his inbound pass in the next play. Davison tapped the pass intended for Brownlee for the crucial steal.

Brownlee, who went scoreless in regulation, held on Jordan Ngatai down the transition and was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul. Ngatai split his foul shot and Shea Ili pushed the Tall Blacks’ lead to four after hitting one of his two charities in the final 9.9 seconds.

“We had our chances in both overtimes. I mean in regulation and both overtimes to win that basketball game. We just came up short,” Cone said.

With Brownlee held to just five points despite logging 36 minutes of action, it was Gilas’ youth brigade that held the fort.

Gomez De Liaño and Kevin Quiambao finished with 23 points each and combined for seven of Gilas’ 12 triples. Gomez De Liano went 9-of-15 from the field with six rebounds, four assists and a steal while Quiambao had 9-of-16 field goal shooting.

Dwight Ramos added 18 points, Carl Tamaayo scored 17 and RJ Abarrientos finished with six points, 10 assists and five rebounds for the Philippines.

Brownlee, who was held to just four points in a 66-69 home loss to the Tall Blacks last February at the Mall of Asia Arena, pulled down eight rebounds and four assists.

Gilas came back from a 43-55 deficit in the third quarter and even took a 77-70 advantage with 4:56 in the fourth period off a Ramos trey.

The Tall Blacks rallied and went up, 83-80, before Gomez De Liano nailed a game-tying triple with 11.9 seconds left. New Zealand had a chance to win it but Ngatai’s putback at the buzzer was waived off after the review.