Justin Brownlee once again added to his lore with a breathtaking performance that propelled Gilas Pilipinas into the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025.
With the clock winding down and Gilas trailing by three points, Brownlee drained a game-tying three-pointer over Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman with just 3.7 seconds left on the clock.
The clutch shot sent the game into overtime and brought back memories of a similarly iconic moment nearly a decade ago — Brownlee’s game-winning triple over Allen Durham in Game 6 of the 2016 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, which ended Ginebra’s eight-year title drought.
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Gilas head coach Tim Cone shared the story behind the play, saying it has become their bread and butter play, relying on Brownlee’s familiarity with the moment.
“Well, we were fortunate that we were able to get the ball back and have a chance to tie it with three seconds to go. We just ran an old play for Justin that he’s familiar with, and we got the switch that we wanted, got the smaller guy on him to get a shot up over the top,” Cone said.
“It’s exactly the same play we ran to win a championship at the club level. He was familiar with it, and that kind of spearheaded us forward. The emotion from the shot propelled us into overtime.”
Brownlee finished the game with 29 points, five assists, and four rebounds in 40 minutes of action.
For the 37-year-old naturalized Filipino, though, he is just grateful to be part of these magical moments.
“Like I said before, these are the moments every player dreams of. When the game is tight, coming down wire to wire and an atmosphere like Saudi, today it was just… I can’t say it’s clutch genes or something that I developed,” Brownlee said.
“I just think that when you see an opportunity as a player, you just have to go after it. It doesn’t always work in your favor because you can’t make every shot. You just got to have courage to take those opportunities, and I’m just blessed to be given those opportunities to hit those shots.”
(C) FIBA.basketball
Gilas took control in the overtime period, with big baskets from Kevin Quiambao and AJ Edu, who both knocked down crucial shots that sealed a 95-88 victory for the Philippines.
This win sends Gilas forward to face top-seeded Australia in the quarterfinals.
For now, the team will savor the hard-fought victory before shifting focus to their upcoming showdown against the Boomers.
“Just really proud of the guys. We didn’t quit. We had some leads that we gave up, but they didn’t give up either. Both teams battled until the very end. It was an amazing game,” Cone said.
