GILAS PILIPINAS did the unthinkable: a shocker in Riga.
Justin Brownlee stopped a furious comeback by host Latvia as Gilas Pilipinas avoided a meltdown for an 89-80 win on Thursday morning to start their Olympic qualifying drive on a high note in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT).
Brownlee nailed a four-point play off Janis Timma foul to silence an entire Riga Arena crowd and put the Philippines up, 85-71, with 3:29 left in the game after the Latvians tried their best to fight back from a 48-74 deficit late in the third quarter to come within 71-81 at the last period.
Guard Rihards Lomazs helped the host country narrow the gap to 77-85 with 1:38 left. But with so much frustration, missed attempts, and fatigue heading into the crucial stretch, Latvia could not do anything but to foul.
Chris Newsome and Dwight Ramos made two free throws each enough to seal the win with an 89-77 lead down to just 47 ticks left. Charlotte Hornets Davis Bertans scored on a trey nine seconds later to trim the deficit, but Latvia failed to pull off any miracle in the next plays as the final buzzer sounded.
It was a productive night not only for Brownlee — who flirted with a triple-double of 26 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, one steal and a block — but also for the four other Gilas mainstays Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto and Chris Newsome.
Sotto added 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field with one three-point shot plus eight rebounds and a block, while Ramos tallied 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists and June Mar Fajardo contributed 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Newsome had 10 points also for Gilas, which steered by head coach Tim Cone to a victory for the first time against European opposition in an official FIBA competition since 1960.
Rodions Kurucs led Latvia with 18 points but failed to get production from Artus Strautins who only managed to score six points after making 18 points in Latvia’s 88-53 win over Georgia on Tuesday.
Gilas Pilipinas will be facing later tonight Georgia at 8:30pm. If Gilas beats Georgia, the Philippines will enter the crossover knockout semifinal as top seed in Group A. If we lose to Georgia by less than 19 points, we can still make it to the semifinal as the No. 2 team.
