Gilas Pilipinas’ 2025 FIBA Asia Cup campaign just went from bad to worse as the nationals lost to New Zealand, 94-86, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Thursday night.
As was the case against Chinese Taipei, the Philippines again played catchup for much of the game after trailing by nine early in the first quarter and by 18 at 55-37 late in the second frame.
The nationals actually started better this time around, netting the game’s first two points and sticking close to New Zealand, 16-14, up until the midway point of the opening frame. But seven unanswered by the Tall Blacks gave them a 23-14 advantage before Gilas scored the final four points of the first—two free throws from Carl Tamayo and a short stab by Chris Newsome—to inch to within 23-18.
New Zealand then took over in the second frame, hitting six of their nine first half triples to build the game’s biggest lead at 55-37 with under a minute left before intermission.
Gilas Pilipinas Stages Comeback But Falls Short
Facing tall odds against the Tall Blacks, Gilas Pilipinas showed grit and fight throughout the second half, getting to within four, 68-64, once and charging to within three, 85-82, another time.
Fueling Gilas Pilipinas’ second-half surge were Justin Brownlee and Dwight Ramos on offense and Scottie Thompson and AJ Edu on defense. Silent for much of the first half, Ramos came alive in the third canto, firing 10 points to match Brownlee’s output.
Gilas, though, just couldn’t get over the hump despite its repeated rallies as New Zealand had an answer for everyone of them—usually with guard Taylor Britt doing the damage.
The nationals last threatened at 85-82 with just a little under four minutes left thanks to Brownlee’s seventh and final triple of the night, but Britt responded with a high-arching lay-up over AJ Edu to give the Tall Blacks some breathing room, 87-82. A Ramos turnover then led to another Britt lay-up to all but put the game away, 89-82.
Must-Win vs. Iraq
Brownlee led all scorers with 37 points in another yeoman’s effort. Ramos added 19, while June Mar Fajardo had 11. Jordan Ngatai led New Zealand with 22 markers, while Taylor Britt put up 19 points and 8 dimes. Flynn Cameron and Mojave King chipped in 12 and 11, respectively.
With the loss, Gilas Pilipinas needs to beat fellow Group D cellar dweller Iraq to have a chance at making at least the quarterfinals.
