GIlas makes historic triumph over the New Zealand Tall Blacks!

The Gilas Pilipinas defeated New Zealand for the first-time ever, 93-89, to open the Window 2 of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier 2025 in Mall of Asia Arena Thursday night, November 21. 

With the victory, Gilas has finally broken a four-game losing streak in its head-to-head against the World No. 22 squad.

Gilas had a sluggish start, going down 0-8 in the opening minutes. 

However, they slowly climbed out of the hole and took the lead, 20-18, following a Calvin Oftana trey. Until in the remaining minutes in fourth quarter, the host got the play it needed as Chris Newsome drained an open three-pointer with 1:09 left, allowing the Philippines to extend its lead to seven.

Kai Sotto finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as Justin Brownlee paced the Filipinos with 26 points, while three other Gilas players scored in double digits: Scottie Thompson (12 points), Newsome, and Dwight Ramos (11 points each).

Gilas coach Tim Cone says that the game was a tough one but he is satisfied because of the good performance that was seen in them. Cone also gave credit to Kai and June Mar in battling through their bigs, who were really physical with them together with Justin.

"It was a tough one. They are good. They are really good. They are incredibly physical. I think that was the number one thing we had to battle through. Credit to Kai and June Mar battling through their bigs, who were really physical with us. Of course, Justin, they were physical with Justin," Cone said.

"So to overcome that and to find a way to win was really special. Special because of our home court, our home crowd, and the people watching," said Cone. "There were a lot of attention on the game and our game were, you know, pressured to win. And they found a way. And I'm proud of them."he added.

The Philippines can qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup with one more win, and that could come against Hong Kong this coming Sunday, November 24 at the same venue.  

Meanwhile, Corey Webster led New Zealand with 25 points and 4 assists, but only two other players scored in double digits: Thomas Vodanich and Sam Waardenburg (19 points each).

The scores:

Gilas Pilipinas (93) -- Brownlee 26, Sotto 19, Thompson 12, Newsome 11, Ramos 11, Fajardo 6, Perez 3, Oftana 3, Tamayo 2, Aguilar 0.

New Zealand (89) -- Webster 25, Vodanovich 19, Waardenburg 19, Britt 8, Le'afa 6, Brown 5, Harris 3, Cameron 2, Harrison 2.

Quarterscores: 20-22; 45-45; 72-63; 93-89.