Gilas Pilipinas falls short vs Chinese Taipei in FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers

Gilas Pilipinas fell short against Chinese Taipei, 91-84, on Thursday in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.

The Philippines was trailing 71-61 by the end of the third quarter as Chinese Taipei limited Gilas to just 16 points in the said frame.

Gilas, however, still continued to pound on Chinese Taipei as Justin Brownlee made 11 points from the Philippines' 19-8 run since the fourth quarter opened to reclaim the lead, 80-79, with less than four minutes left.

Ting Chien-Lin's free throws handed back the lead to Chinese Taipei before Chris Newsome's jumper gave the Philippines an 82-81 lead. However, Ting Chien-Lin quickly answered with a triple to put Chinese Taipei in front with 84. Brandon Gilbeck's basket then gave the home team a four-point lead, but AJ Edu's jumper gave a glimmer of hope to the Philippines with 2:16 left.

After Brownlee's rebound at the 1:42 mark, the ball however went to the opponent's hands as Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga stole the ball. The latter missed his triple and layup attempts before Chinese Taipei called for time.

Brownlee missed his attempt with less than one minute left but Chun Hsiang Lu connected from downtown to give Chinese Taipei an 89-84 lead which prompted the Philippines this time to call for a timeout.

Dwight Ramos missed his final attempt, Cheng Liu also missed another attempt from beyond the arc, but it was Gilbeck who sealed the victory for Chinese Taipei.

Brownlee led Gilas with 39 points anchored on eight triples, eight assists, and six rebounds, while Ramos had 15 points. Edu, meanwhile, had 10 points in hits first game in the qualifiers.

Ting-Chien Lin and Gadiaga had 21 points each for Chinese Taipei. 

"The Chinese Taipei team was very impressive, we made a couple of runs at them, we were hoping they would crack, but they kept their composure. They kept making big shots and very impressive win by them and well-deserving," Cone said in a press conference.

In the first window of the qualifiers February last year, Gilas won against Chinese Taipei, 106-53.

The Philippines, which has officially clinched a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup in August, will head to New Zealand next to play the Tall Blacks on February 23.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News