Struggling Gilas bows to New Zealand
MANILA, Philippines — The slump continues for Gilas PIlipinas.
Gilas absorbed another loss in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, this time in their rematch with New Zealand, 87-70, Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Spark Arena in Auckland.
The Philippines, which already qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup slated for later this year, lost both games in the third and final window of the qualifying round.
Tohi Smith-Milner powered New Zealand with 25 points, to go with nine rebounds, and two assists. Webster added 14 markers.
After trailing by as much as 28 points in the third quarter, the Nationals threatened the hosts and sliced the deficit to 11, 66-77, after a Justin Brownlee layup with 6:37 remaining in the game.
But Corey Webster, Kaia Isaac and Tohi Smith-Milner teamed up to unleash eight straight points as the Kiwis increased their lead anew to 85-66 with 2:38 left.
A split from the line by CJ Perez and a 3-pointer by Dwight Ramos pulled the Philippines to within 15, 70-85.
But a Smith-Milner layup iced the game and plunged the dagger to the hearts of the Filipinos.
The Tall Blacks, who lost in their last matchup with the Philippines last year, started off hot, going up by 15 points, 30-15, at the end of the first quarter.
The advantage grew to as much as 28 points, 67-39, in the third quarter after a pair of free throws by Tai Wynyard.
The Philippines, however, slowly tried to claw out of the hole, ending the third quarter with a 16-7 run to make it a 74-55 deficit heading into the fourth quarter.
This continued with another 9-3 run capped by the Brownlee layup in the fourth quarter.
Reuben Rangi added 12 points and nine rebounds for New Zealand.
Chris Newsome top-scored for Gilas with 13 points in 20 minutes. June Mar Fajardo added 11 points, while Brownlee chipped in 10 markers on 5-of-8 shooting.
Before the losses against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand, the Philippines came up short against Lebanon and Egypt in a recent pocket tournament in Doha, Qatar.
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