MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Men’s Basketball Team now surges on a rising tide of triumph as it sails towards the FIBA Asia Cup.
Gilas Pilipinas rose from a 21-point abyss by unleashing a second-half storm led by Justin Brownlee to hold the Macau Black Bears into silence in a 103-98 comeback in their send-off match at the Araneta Coliseum on Monday night, July 28.
It was Brownlee who became a villain for the Black Bears as he detonated a 32-point game alongside 15 rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block, with 15 chips coming from the final canto.
The Filipino squad was trailing 35-56 in the first half but was able to recover in the third quarter after outscoring the Macanese guests, cutting the deficit to two points at the end of the frame, 79-81.
"Feels like I’m at home. [It] feels good to be back just seeing the fans. It’s always special to see the way they support basketball,” said Brownlee in a post-game interview.
Classic Brownlee led the offensive blitz in the last quarter after firing a corner triple to hand the Philippines its first lead of the game at 84-83 before flaring a couple more treys, 90-85.
But the Black Bears tried to threaten the game, uncorking a seven-to-nothing barrage that sliced the Gilas advantage to just one, 93-92, with 3:58 remaining on the clock.
Chris Newsome responded with a jumper, followed by a deep triple from Justin Brownlee that doused Macau’s charge, before AJ Edu punctuated the win with a slam in the final 41 seconds.
The crowd favorite Dwight Ramos contributed 19 points, four rebounds, six assists, two steals, and one block, while Edu finished with 15 points, together with Kevin Quiambao's 10.
In the end, it was a sorry game for the Macanese despite strong outings from William James Douglas with 23 points, Archibald Amorie Angelo with 22, and Jenning Leung adding 17 markers.
“They surprised us with their ability to shoot the ball. We didn’t know their players. We've never seen any of them really before, so it was a shock that they could come out and go 12-of-17 from the three-point line in the first half,” expressed Gilas head coach Tim Cone.
After the tune-up, Nationals are set to Jeddah to face Chinese Taipei on August 6, New Zealand on the 7, and Iraq on the 9 as part of their FIBA Asia Cup Campaign.
