PASIG (Philippines) - The Philippines put their home court advantage into great use following a dominant 106-53 victory against Chinese Taipei to conclude their Window 1 campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers unblemished, Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.
Buoyed by an electric home crowd that filled the venue, Gilas pulled away late in the first quarter before breaking the game wide open in the ensuing chapter, eventually gaining a share of Group B leadership with New Zealand as both squads tote identical 2-0 records.
Game heroes: Justin Brownlee led the balanced attack with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks for an impressive efficiency rate of 40.
Kai Sotto, much to the delight of his compatriots, put on another solid double-double outing with 18 points and 10 rebounds, together with 5 assists and 3 blocks.
Calvin Oftana supplied 13 points on three triples. Dwight Ramos produced 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field., while Kevin Quiambao added 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Turning point: The home team found themselves in a tight affair early on and were holding on to a slim two-point lead with 3:18 left in the opening period. But Sotto changed all that, leading a fiery 13-2 assault to end the quarter with a big 26-13 advantage.
It would be all Philippines from that point on, pouring 56 points in the middle quarters to head into the final frame with a commanding 82-41 lead as the visiting side couldn't replicate the same fight they showed against New Zealand in Taipei last Thursday.
Stats don't lie: Gilas shot 55.1-percent from the field, garnering much of their points from inside the arc (58.1-percent) as they went after more efficient shots. They dished out 30 assists and dominated the rebounding battle, 57-29. The team also had 10 steals and 8 blocks.
They said: "I really like the way we worked tonight. We just really worked hard on both sides of the floor and did that throughout the whole game. I think we have to remember that Chinese Taipei played a top-20 team just three days ago, and they played them all the way to the end. We played the same team and these guys just worked their tails off and made them look bad and they're not that bad. They're a really talented team. Impressed with the way we continued to work and defend them and gave them a hard time." - Tim Cone, Head Coach, Philippines
"Chinese Taipei is not a bad team, but we just came out strong defensively. We played good team defense and then the offense just came in after. Just happy that everybody contributed offensively and defensively. I'm happy everybody enjoyed it." Kai Sotto, Philippines
"We really appreciate that the Philippines gave us such a good game tonight. We have been learning a lot of stuff from this game and hope in the next game, we could improve and try to compete with the Philippines again." - Mao Sen Sang, Head Coach, Chinese Taipei
"I also appreciate that the Philippines brought a good game today. Our team has a lot of young players and I hope that they can learn from this game." - Liu Cheng, Chinese Taipei
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