Gilas Pilipinas engaged New Zealand to a tooth-and-nail battle but just couldn’t get the breaks late to absorb a heartbreaking 102-106 double-overtime defeat in the third window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Spark Arena in Auckland on Friday, July 3.
The Nationals leaned on big games from their young guns but were only enough to drag the contest the second extension as Gilas failed to execute against the unrelenting Tall Blacks defense.
Carlin Davison, who gave Justin Brownlee a tough night, got the game-winning tap on the final play, allowing the Tall Blacks to create the much-needed separation and escape with the big win.
Gilas absorbed its third straight defeat in the qualifiers to slide to a 2-3 record while the Tall Blacks qualified to the next round with a 3-2 tally.
It surely was a deflating defeat for Gilas which got a solid contribution from Juan Gomez de Liano who nailed not only one but two booming triples — the first one that sent the game to the first overtime and the second which gave the Filipinos a 93-91 lead with 8.3 seconds left in the extension.
Gomez de Liano fired 23 points to go with six rebounds and five assists while Kevin Quiambao also finished with 23 on 9-of-16 shooting from the field.
Dwight Ramos added 18 while Carl Tamayo chipped in 17 for the Filipinos who had several chances to pull away but just couldn’t fully capitalize with the Tall Blacks providing quick answers.
Gilas even led 77-70 with four minutes left in regulation but allowed the Tall Blacks to rally back behind an 11-2 run. When the Filipinos took a 93-91 lead after the Gomez de Liano triple, the team committed a foul allowing the Kiwis to force a second extension.
Reuben Te Rangi led the Tall Blacks with 22 while Shea Ili added 21. Davison only finished with seven but he held Brownlee to just five points on only three attempts despite playing for over 35 minutes.
