Gilas Pilipinas Men’s worst stretch under head coach Tim Cone continued on Sunday as the Philippines suffered a lopsided 87-70 defeat against New Zealand in the final game of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers at Spark Arena in Auckland.
This particular window has been rough for the national squad, which previously fell to Lebanon (75-54) and Egypt (86-55) during their Doha training camp.
Adding to their woes, Gilas also dropped a 91-84 decision to Chinese Taipei before heading into this final road game.
The Tall Blacks were out for redemption, avenging their 93-89 loss to the Philippines at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last November.
“The Tall Blacks came out and just smashed us early and just gave us a smash mouth in the first quarter. We just never really recovered,” said Gilas head coach Tim Cone.
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From the opening tip, New Zealand aggressively attacked the Gilas defense, slicing through the lanes for easy layups. The team also made it rain from deep to establish a commanding 30-15 lead after the first quarter.
During that early onslaught, the Kiwis knocked down six three-pointers, with Tohi Smith-Milner hitting three of them.
Smith-Milner ended up with 25 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two assists.
By the end of the game, New Zealand had buried a total of 13 triples.
Gilas showed resilience despite trailing by as much as 28 points, 67-39.
Behind a lineup featuring Justin Brownlee, Chris Newsome, Japeth Aguilar, Calvin Oftana, and Carl Tamayo, the Filipinos mounted a late surge, trimming the deficit to just 11, 77-66, with 6:37 left in the game.
However, Corey Webster and Kaia Isaac restored order for the Tall Blacks, sealing New Zealand’s victory and securing their spot as Group B’s top seed with a 5-1 record.
“I think for us, there was a lot of importance on this game to come in and secure top seed, first and foremost, out of our pool and into the Asia Cup. Secondly, also, just to establish and cement a little bit more of our identity,” said Tall Blacks head coach Judd Flavell.
Webster added 14 points, Jordan Ngatai chipped in 11, while Reuben Te Rangi added 12 points and nine rebounds.
“They came out all guns firing. Ngatai hit a couple of threes early and got to the rim a couple of times and that kinda set the tone. Milner was great all night. We were just playing on our heels the whole game, just trying to recover back from that early barrage,” said Cone.
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Brownlee, who was averaging 24.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in the first five games of the qualifiers, was held to just eight shot attempts for 10 points.
Newsome led the Philippines with 13 points while June Mar Fajardo scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.
Both teams now await the draw on April 8, which will determine their paths in the FIBA Asia Cup proper, set to take place from August 5 to 17 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Philippines will aim to improve on their ninth-place finish in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
The Scores:
New Zealand 87 – Smith-Milner 25, Webster 14, Te Rangi 12, Britt 8, Wynyard 7, Le-afa 5, Darling 3, Isaac 2, Brown 0, Ball 0, Isaac 0.
Philippines 70 – Newsome 13, Fajardo 11, Brownlee 10, Ramos 8, Oftana 8, Edu 7, Aguilar 6, Tamayo 4, Perez 3, Thompson 0, Quiambao 0, Malonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 30-15, 53-33, 74-55, 87-70
