Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto delighted a big home crowd that saw them come up with big numbers during their 106-53 demolition of Chinese Taipei.
Fans were so happy when Brownlee showed the way with 26 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks for Gilas in their Window 1 campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.
Sotto was also impressive with his double-double outing of 18 points and 10 rebounds, together with 5 assists and 3 blocks.
Coach Tim Cone was pleased at the outcome, which put Gilas (2-0) on top of the Group B standings with New Zealand.
“I really liked the way we worked tonight. Just really worked hard on both sides of the floor,” said Cone.
The crowd cheered for Gilas as they took charge early, with Brownlee’s two charities in the last 2:16 of the first period touching off a 13-0 run, widening a 16-13 lead to a 26-13 spread at the end of the quarter.
Dwight Ramos added 13 points, while Carl Tamayo shot seven of 11 points in the second canto as Gilas moved away by 29 points, 52-23, with 1:06 left.
“They worked hard on both ends of the floor. And they did all throughout the whole game, for 40 minutes,” said Cone.
Last Thursday, the Taiwanese side came off a 86-69 loss to the New Zealand Kiwis in Taipei, and Cone took note of this.
The Kiwis now share the lead with Gilas after their 88-49 triumph over Hong Kong in Auckland, also last Sunday.
“I think we have to remember that this team (Taipei) played a top 20 team, New Zealand a few days ago. And they (New Zealand) played them all the way to the end,” added Cone. Peter Atencio
Gilas never looked back and dominated the final canto with a commanding 82-41 lead in the final 1:32 of the third off Tamayo’s putback.
“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,” said Taipei coach Mao Sen Sang.