Aussies pull away in third quarter, keep Gilas winless at home
(Updated, 9:40 p.m.) MANILA, Philippines — It’s back-to-back losses on home soil for Gilas Pilipinas.
Gilas failed to defend home court in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers after falling against a hard-nosed Australian side, 93-66, Sunday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Philippines absorbed a narrow 69-66 loss to New Zealand last Thursday, February 26.
Sunday’s game against the Boomers, however, was more of a blowout.
Gilas was able to go toe-to-toe with the World No. 6 basketball team in the first half, as they only trailed by five, 38-33, after the first 20 minutes of action.
But Australia tightened up on defense and hit five 3-pointers in a fiery third quarter that broke the game wide open, 68-53, heading to the fourth frame.
By then, the deficit was too big to come back from as the Philippines trailed by as much as 29 points in the contest.
Justin Brownlee bounced back from his nightmarish four-point contest against the Tall Blacks with 20 points on Sunday. He also pulled down eight rebounds and issued seven assists.
Quentin Millora-Brown finished with 11 points and seven rebounds as the only other Gilas played in double digits.
Elijah Pepper waxed hot and produced 28 points and seven rebounds for the Boomers. Tanner Krebs followed suit with 18 markers and four boards, while Mitch Creek and Tom Wilson had 13 and 12, respectively.
Australia made 35 of their 83 field goal attempts, good for 42.2%, while Gilas had a 22-of-64 clip for 34.4% shooting.
The Boomers sank 15 3-pointers in the victory.
Despite the loss, Gilas is already assured of a berth in the second round of the qualifiers.
The FIBA said that New Zealand’s 99-67 win over Guam earlier in the day stamped the Nationals’ ticket to the next round.
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