For the second consecutive game, Gilas Pilipinas absorbed a belt-to-ass beating from Australia. On Sunday night, the Boomers pummeled the home squad, 93-66, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in the two nations’ second game in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
As it did against New Zealand, Gilas Pilipinas tried to turn its matchup with the Boomers into a defensive battle, and that strategy worked—at least in the first half. The nationals were down only by one, 14-13, after one and were within 38-33 heading into intermission.
Australia Throttles Gilas Pilipinas in Second Half
The floodgates opened in the third quarter as the Boomers began to dictate the tempo and impose their will. Mitch Creek opened the second half with a trey, and Australia took its first double-digit lead at 50-40 at the 6:19 mark. Things got worse from there as the Boomers hit three more triples and got easy looks off beautiful ball movement to establish a 68-53 cushion going to the final frame.
Australia didn’t let up in the final 12 minutes, continuing to execute superbly on offense while surrendering very little on defense in a masterclass that had the Filipinos stumped and the crowd silent.
Guard Elijah Pepper led the way with a game-high 28 points on five triples, while veteran Mitch Creek added 13 markers, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists in his return to the Boomers. Tanner Krebs chipped in 18, and Tom Wilson had 12. Justin Brownlee made up for his ghastly showing against New Zealand with a valiant 20-point, 8-rebound, 7-assist effort, while Quentin Millora-Brown put up 11 points and 7 rebounds.
Gilas Pilipinas Qualifies for Second Round
Despite the loss, Gilas Pilipinas’ FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers journey won’t be ending just yet as the team still qualified for the second round. That’s thanks to New Zealand beating Guam, 99-67, earlier in the day.
The loss means Guam can only tie the Philippines at two wins at most at the conclusion of Round 1—assuming it beats New Zealand and Australia in the third window and Gilas loses to both teams again. In such a case, both Guam and Gilas Pilipinas will end up with 2-4 records after the first round. But since the nationals beat Guam twice, they will still advance as the third team.
