MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas could not have asked Justin Brownlee for a better performance.
In the end, though, Chinese Taipei simply proved to be the superior team and handed the Philippines its first defeat in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers after eking out a nail-biting 91-84 home win on Thursday, February 20.
Brownlee churned out 39 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, but his efforts went down the drain as the Filipinos bowed to the Taiwanese for the first time since the 2013 Asia Cup.
Catching fire from beyond the arc, Brownlee dragged the Philippines out of a double-digit hole by going 8-of-11 on three-pointers, the last of which gave the Nationals an 80-79 lead with 3:50 minutes to play.
But a retooled Chinese Taipei beefed up by naturalized big man Brandon Gilbeck and Mohammad Gadiaga closed the game on a 12-4 run, much to the delight of a loud crowd at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
“A lot of credit to Chinese Taipei. They bounced back from the last time we played them,” said Brownlee. “They hit some big shots every time we tried to get a rhythm or make a run.”
Gadiaga finished with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Lin Ting-Chien also delivered 21 points with 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals as Chinese Taipei improved to 2-3 in Group B.
Bucking foul trouble, Gilbeck chimed in 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks, including two crucial dunks in their finishing rally.
The Taiwanese redeemed themselves after suffering a 53-point manhandling from the Filipinos in the first window almost exactly a year ago, a loss that did not feature Lin, Gadiaga, Gilbeck, Lu Chun-Hsiang, and Ma Chien-Hao.
Lu and Ma also shone with 18 and 14 points, respectively, on a combined 7 three-pointers as Chinese Taipei drained 15 treys in total.
Ma gave the hosts their biggest lead at 35-22, while Lu sank a clutch triple with under a minute remaining that allowed the Taiwanese to create an 89-84 separation.
“They just responded really well. It was a hard-fought game and congrats to them,” Brownlee said.
Dwight Ramos backstopped Brownlee with 15 points and AJ Edu put up 10 points and 6 rebounds.
June Mar Fajardo and Chris Newsome chimed in 9 and 7 points, respectively, and combined for 10 rebounds in the loss that dropped the Philippines to 4-1.
It was a disappointing result for the Filipinos, especially with the way they fought back from a pair double-digit deficits as they failed to rebound from blowout losses to Lebanon and Egypt in the Doha International Cup in Qatar.
After Gadiaga went on a personal 10-0 run to start the second quarter that opened a 32-20 lead, Gilas gradually clawed its way back and eventually seized the upper hand at 51-50 off a Brownlee triple.
Chinese Taipei pulled away again and ended the third quarter with a 71-61 lead, but Brownlee scattered 11 points in the final period to keep the Philippines afloat.
A gutsy Edu jump shot pulled the Filipinos within 84-86 only to witness Lu hit a big three-pointer and Gilbeck seal the Taiwanese win with a two-handed dunk.
The Scores
Chinese Taipei 91 – Lin 21, Gadiaga 21, Lu 18, Ma 14, Gilbeck 8, Chen 5, Tseng 2, Liu 0, Chou 0, Lan 0.
Philippines 84 – Brownlee 39, Ramos 15, Edu 10, Fajardo 9, Newsome 7, Thompson 4, Perez 0, Oftana 0, Tamayo 0.
Quarters: 22-20, 47-45, 71-61, 91-84.
– Rappler.com