Terrence Romeo shoots Gilas Pilipinas to come-from-behind win over New Zealand

Just when the Philippine team looked dead in the water, Terrence Romeo saved the day.

Gilas Pilipinas depended on the hot shooting hands of its youngest player to rally past the Wellington Saints club from New Zealand, 84-81, to remain undefeated in the MVP Cup on Saturday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

And it was Romeo who came up biggest for the national squad, scoring four booming three-pointers in the fourth quarter.

That was enough to light a spark under a cold-shooting Gilas side that had trailed by as much as 13 points late in the third period.

New Zealand was still ahead, 71-59, on a free throw by playing coach Kevin Braswell early in the fourth before Romeo caught fire.

The GlobalPort guard's three-pointer sparked a 13-3 run that put Gilas within two, 74-72.

After two free-throws by Braswell, Romeo nailed back to back shots from beyond the arc to give Gilas the lead, 78-76.

New Zealand had one last taste of the lead after a three-pointer, 79-78, before four straight Calvin Abueva and Jayson Castro in the final two minutes gave Gilas the advantage for good.

The result mirrored the two teams' matchup in the William Jones Cup several days earlier in Taiwan, when Gilas came from behind to defeat the Saints in overtime.

It was the second straight win for Gilas in the four-team competition after defeating Talk 'N Text on Friday.

The Philippine squad will face Chinese Taipei to wrap up the tournament, the last public appearance for the team before the FIBA Asia Championship in China. -JST, GMA News