Gilas Pilipinas relied on its defense to lock down Guam and come away with a masterful 87-46 away victory in its first game of the 2027 Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Friday night at Calvo Fieldhouse in Guam.
The Philippines limited Guam to only 17 combined points in both the third and fourth frames to blow the game wide open.
‘We just had to step it up defensively. I thought we were letting them get the ball a lot of times. They were able to do that but we were also able to slow them down and control the tempo,’ coach Tim Cone said.
‘Still, they’re very, very disciplined. We saw that when they played Syria in the Asia Cup.’
After a 17-all stalemate at the end of the opening period, the Philippines took over the game for good with a blistering 23-point second quarter run for a 40-29 lead heading into the second half. The troubles continued to pile up for Guam in the third frame, where it only scored seven points, while Gilas continued to step on the gas pedal, churning out 24 quarter points.
By the end of the third, the Philippines had built an insurmountable 64-36 lead.
Justin Brownlee led Gilas anew with 22 points, two rebounds and two assists built on an efficient 53.33 percent shooting clip. Dwight Ramos finished with 10 points. AJ Edu also chipped in eight markers and eight rebounds. Jericho Cruz carried the offensive load for Guam with 17 points, but he fumbled the ball six times with Guam committing a total of 16 turnovers. Tai Wesley registered 12 points and five boards in the loss.
Guam and Gilas go at it again on Monday, this time in the Philippines’ home soil at Ateneo’s Blue Eagle Gym.