By: Ernest Tuazon
Dwight Ramos led the 11-man Gilas Pilipinas Men to a 74-64 victory over the visiting Taiwan Mustangs in their send-off friendly on Monday, at the Philsports Arena in Pasig, as part of their preparations for the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The 25-year-old guard from Levanga Hokkaido in the Japan B.League paced Gilas with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting, adding four steals and three rebounds.
“We were not concerned of winning or losing a basketball game, but we wanted to play a certain style of basketball,” Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone said postgame.
“We worked hard on the defensive side… This is exactly what we needed, we wanted [this friendly] to be hard, we did not want it to be easy. If it was easy, it was not going to help us,” he added.
Gilas played with just 11 men after Scottie Thompson was nursing a back injury.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Ramos and Ateneo big man Mason Amos sealed Gilas’ win in their second-ever friendly under the leadership of Cone, 70-56.
Gilas Pilipinas turned a five-point lead at halftime into a 14-point lead heading to the final salvo with a 21-12 onslaught of the Mustangs in the third quarter.
A low-scoring second frame saw Gilas Pilipinas take a 37-32 lead at the half over Taiwan.
Gilas led 22-7 to open the friendly, capped off by a three-pointer from San Miguel point guard CJ Perez.
However, the Mustangs retaliated with a 12-3 run to close the opening frame, spoiled by a half-court heave from newly-minted Changwon LG import Carl Tamayo.
Brownlee tallied a 12-point, 15-assist double-double, while Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo chipped in nine and eight points, respectively.
Oscar Lopez paced Taiwan in the loss with 15 points, nine rebounds, and two assists, while former PBA point guard Alex Cabagnot chipped in 13 markers and seven boards.
The Mustangs’ roster was led by former Rain or Shine tactician Chris Gavina, with its roster consisting of Filipino basketball players such as Ateneo’s Geo Chiu and former Blackwater guard Rashawn McCarthy.
Gilas will next face Turkey and Poland in separate exhibition matches on June 28 and 30, respectively.
They will then to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, scheduled for July 4.
The Scores:
Philippines 74 – Ramos 19, Brownlee 12, Sotto 9, Fajardo 8, Tamayo 7, Aguilar 6, Perez 3, Amos 3, Oftana 3, Newsome 2, Quiambao 2.
Taiwan 64 – Lopez 15, Cabagnot 13, McCarthy 12, Deguara 10, Robinson 5, Borja 3, Yan 2, Chung 0, Chiu 0.
Quarterscores: 25-19, 37-32, 58-44, 74-64.
