Justin Brownlee starred time and again as Gilas Pilipinas came back to beat Macau in a friendly, 103-98, Monday night at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
In his first game back from a hand injury, the naturalized winger fired 32 points and 15 rebounds with five assists as he powered the crucial fourth-quarter run to take the lead permanently after being down by as many as 21 in the first half.
Brownlee knocked down two threes in consecutive fashion to erase a one-point deficit. Then Kevin Quiambao completed a three-point play to make it nine unanswered points for the home team toward a 93-85 lead with 5:38 to go.
The Black Bears still got to within a point, but the 37-year-old was there to halt their momentum, converting a three-point play of his own with 3:40 left.
Chris Newsome would help ‘JB’ add on to their lead, before AJ Edu emphatically threw it down with both hands for the exclamation point. That gave the Nationals a 103-96 cushion with 41.9 seconds to spare — all but sealing the deal.
“Give credit to the guys,” said head coach Tim Cone. “They made a decision at halftime that they’re gonna come out and defend … we’re gonna make some nice things, but what is gonna win for us is our defense.”
Dwight Ramos finished with 19 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Edu supplied 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting while Kevin Quiambao added 14.
Scottie Thompson added 10 markers and six boards as he helped Ramos, Edu, Brownlee, and CJ Perez in that big third-quarter assault. There, they slowly chipped away at the deficit through their defense-buoyed running game.
“I’m really proud of the guys for flipping the script. We were night and day in the second half, guys defended extremely well and got us back,” Cone said.
Will Douglas, on the other hand, had 23 points to lead Macau, who built a 63-46 lead at the break after going an excellent 12-of-18 from deep in the first half.
So torrid was the Black Bears’ shooting from deep in the first two quarters that it enabled the visitors to build a 56-35 lead, but failed to sustain their touch after the intermission. They finished the game with only 13 threes.
Amorie Archibald made 22 points. Jenning Leung had 17 points, while Omari Peek added 14 for Macau, who’s bound for the 2025-26 EASL season.
Ex-UP Fighting Maroon Quentin Millora-Brown returned to Araneta, scoring six points and nabbing seven rebounds.
The friendly served as part of Gilas’ preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 set on August 5-17 at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Scores:
Philippines 103 – Brownlee 32, Ramos 19, Edu 15, Quiambao 14, Thompson 10, Perez 7, Newsome 2, Abarrientos 2, Malonzo 2, Aguilar 0, Tamayo 0.
Macau 98 – Douglas 23, Anthony 22, Leung 17, Peek 14, Shackelford 7, Millora-Brown 6, Dennis 5, Ndiaye 2, Obasa 2, Micek 0.
Quarterscores: 25-33, 46-63, 79-81, 103-98.
