Layout by: Clarisse Garcia
Published by: Jean Ashley Lugod
Date Published: March 7, 2025
Time Published: 10:55 AM
Gilas Pilipinas becomes the second best team in Group B on Sunday, February 23, after failing to win their match against New Zealand in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers at the Spark Arena in New Zealand with scores 87-70
They wrapped up the qualifiers with a record of 4-2. Despite their back-to-back losses, they still secured a well-deserved spot in August’s Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia.
The team fought the Tall Blacks back in November and made a turn-pointing victory, but unfortunately they bounced back and achieved victory against Gilas Pilipinas to attain a 5-1 lead.
The starting players of Gilas Pilipinas were Scottie Thompson, June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos, Kevin Quiambao, and Justin Brownlee.
Chris Newsome led the game and scored 13 points, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 rebound while June Fajardo followed with 11 points and 5 rebounds, Justin Brownlee following with 10 markers, 4 boards, and 3 dimes, Oftana and Ramoss with 8 points, Edu with 7, Aguilar with 6, Tamayo with 4, Perez with 3, and Thompson, Alonzo, and Quiambao with none.
The first quarter started with Brownlee and Ramos shouldering the offense for the team. Ramos briefly narrowed the gap to 8-7, but New Zealand responded quickly and widened the gap to 18-9 halfway through the first quarter after another 3 points from the opposing opponent.
During the second quarter, Gilas Pilipinas struggled offensively and fell 20 points behind during halftime. Despite Oftana’s fadeaway shot and Brownlee’s layup, and Tamayo’s free throws to bring the team out of a scoring stop, New Zealand widened the lead with Milner’s five straight points and Britt’s back-to-back jumpers.
Amidst the third quarter, New Zealand dominated, pulling away with a 67-39 early lead. Oftana and Edu scored threes, with Edu scoring 7 points in his best game yet. Whereas Fajardo missed three free throws as Gilas Pilipinas ended the third quarter down 19 points.
In the final quarter, Gilas was showing hopes, trimming the gap to 77-62 after Oftana’s second three-point shot. Brownlee punctuated a 7-0 run that cut the gap to nine.
However, Webster’s clutch jumper broke the momentum. The opposing team then responded with a 7-0 run for themselves, sealing an 83-66 lead.
The first quarter ended with Gilas’ score being 15 while New Zealand’s score was 30. Followed by the second quarter being 53-33, third quarter with 74-55, and the last quarter with 87-70 ending the game with a 17 point difference
REFERENCES:
[1] Gilas Pilipinas fall flat vs New Zealand to end FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers. (2025). Onesports.ph. https://www.onesports.ph/.../gilas-pilipinas-fall-flat-vs...
[2] delfin.dioquino editor. (2025, February 23). Brownlee shackled as New Zealand exacts revenge on Gilas. RAPPLER. https://www.rappler.com/.../fiba-asia-cup-qualifiers.../
[3] INQUIRER.net. (2025, February). LIVE: Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand at 2025 Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers. INQUIRER.net. https://sports.inquirer.net/.../live-gilas-pilipinas-vs...
[4] Caramoan, M. A. (2025, February 23). Gilas Pilipinas falters again, loses to New Zealand in Asia Cup qualifiers - ESPN. ESPN.com; ESPN. https://www.espn.ph/.../gilas-pilipinas-ends-fiba-asia...
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