Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone was on point when he said they will take on a different Chinese Taipei team in the third window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
The visiting Filipinos found the Taiwanese a tough nut to crack as the revamped host squad handed Gilas a shocking defeat after weathering Justin Brownlee’s 39-point eruption in a 91-84 decision Thursday night at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
Cone was impressed with how Chinese Taipei kept its composure despite Gilas’ furious fourth-quarter storm, which erased the Taiwanese’ 10-point lead.
In fact, the erstwhile unbeaten Gilas looked poised to turn things around when Brownlee nailed a triple for an 80-79 advantage with 3:56 left in the game. Chris Newsome gave Gilas its last taste of the lead, 82-81, with 3:15 remaining.
But Chinese Taipei displayed nerves of steel, firing back a closing 10-2 run for its second win in five games and thus securing a crack at the last four seats in the main draw slated 5 to 17 August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“I thought the Chinese Taipei team was very impressive. We made a couple of runs out of them. We were hoping they would crack but they never did,” Cone said during the post-game presser.
AJ Edu pulled Gilas to within two, 86-84, hitting a wing jumper with 2:16 left only for Chinese-Taipei to score five straight points to complete the escape.
Chun Hsiang Lu connected a dagger triple followed by a putback slam dunk by naturalized Taiwanese center Brandon Gilbeck for a 91-84 advantage with 17 seconds remaining in the game.
“They kept their composure (and) kept making big shots,” Cone added.
It was a huge turnaround for the Taiwanese, who suffered a 53-point humiliation in the opening window of Group B last year in Manila.
Chinese-Taipei made a huge shakeup to its roster since then, adding seven-footer Gilbeck, Japan B. League players Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga and Tseng Hsiang-Chun; Chinese Basketball Association veteran Ting-Chien Lin and seasoned gunner Lu under new coach Italian Gianluca Tucci.
Gadiaga and Lin punished Gilas’ defense with 21 points each as Chinese-Taipei scored its first win over the Filipinos since the first round of the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship held in Manila.
“(A) very impressive win by them. They were well-deserving (of the win),” Cone said.
Lu had 18 markers while Chien-Hao Ma scored 14 for Chinese-Taipei, who forced Gilas to commit 17 turnovers while outmuscling the visiting team, 28-16, in inside points. Seven-footer Gilbeck had eight points, eight boards and five blocks as he imposed his will on the shaded area in the absence of injured 7-foot-3 Gilas big man Kai Sotto.
Gilas kept its hold of the top spot tied with New Zealand with identical 4-1 cards. Both teams are through to the main draw.
The Filipinos will face the Tall Blacks, who destroyed also-ran Hong Kong, 92-51, Thursday, in a much-anticipated rematch in Auckland on Sunday to decide which team will end up as top seed in Group B.
Brownlee shot 8-of-11 from the three-point area, had eight assists and six rebounds but also turned the ball over five times.
“They hit some big shots every time we tried to get a rhythm or make a run,” Brownlee said of the home team.
“They just responded very well.”
Dwight Ramos added 15 points and Edu had 10 as the only other Gilas players in double figures.
Chinese Taipei re-established control in the third quarter after Gilas went ahead, 51-50, with a telling run to enter the payoff period with a 71-61 lead.
The Taiwanese surged ahead with a scorching 10-0 second quarter start to turn a two-point lead at the end of the opening period into a 32-20 advantage with 7:49 left off a Gadiaga basket.
With Gilas struggling with turnovers, Chinese-Taipei built its biggest gap, 35-22, after Chen-Hiao Ma converted all three of his charities with 6:41 remaining in the opening half.
Gilas answered back with a late fightback punctuated by Ramos’ two-handed dunk and a trey to cut Chinese-Taipei’s advantage to 47-45 entering the halftime break.
Chinese-Taipei visits winless Hong Kong on Sunday.