GILAS Pilipinas began its new era on the international stage with a decisive 94-64 victory over Hong Kong on Thursday, launching its FIBA Asia Cup 2025 qualifying campaign on a high note.
The game against Hong Kong started surprisingly close. Given their outstanding shooting half, the opponent led 29-30 in the second quarter and limited the Philippines, which led 41-37 at halftime.
What began as a tight game turned into a landslide for the Filipinos as Kai Sotto, Justin Brownlee and Jaime Malonzo led the nationals to a breakaway third quarter, extending a 4-point lead to 71-46.
These three players combined to outscore Hong Kong 30-9 in the quarter, fueled by a 10-0 run by Brownlee and Sotto.
From there, Gilas Pilipinas never looked back and cruised to their first triumph under head coach Tim Cone’s program, which is set to run for four years.
Cone, in his first game as full-time national team coach, said he was surprised by Hong Kong’s performance in the first half.
“I thought Hong Kong, China played a great first half and shocked us. I didn’t think that they would play as they did. They really surprised us with the way they could shoot the ball,” Cone remarked.
Gilas Pilipinas was ahead in all facets, particularly in rebounding. Despite the absence of AJ Edu and Juner Mar Fajardo, who were meant to be Gilas’ frontcourt, they racked up 56 rebounds.
Eighteen of these were offensive rebounds, allowing them to score 22 points on second chances. Gilas also controlled the paint, scoring 50 points from the shaded area.
Meanwhile, Brownlee returned to the hardcourt for the first time since October. He finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, nearly achieving a triple-double.
Kevin Quiambao continued his impressive play, ending with 15 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. Sotto followed up with a double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds, propelling the squad to its impressive run.
Shiu Wah Leung led Hong Kong with 15 points while Oliver Xu added 13 points. Duncan Reid, a former Bay Area Dragons player, contributed 12 points in the loss.
The Philippine squad will return home to face Chinese Taipei on Sunday at the PhilSports Arena, capping off the first window of the FIBA Asia Qualifiers.
