Brownlee saves, tows Gilas past China for Asian Games finals berth

MANILA, Philippines – Justin Brownlee went on a personal scoring spree at crunch time as Gilas Pilipinas completed at miraculous comeback and stunned host China on Wednesday night, 77-76, to march on to the finals of the men’s basketball competition in the 19th Asian Games.

When the Nationals needed it most, Brownlee heated up and scored three straight field goals, the last two of which were 3-pointers that shocked the heavily partisan crowd at the HOC Gymnasium in Hangzhou.

Brownlee’s second 3-pointer was over two Chinese defenders with 23 seconds remaining.

In the next possession, China passed the ball around and found Zhang Zhenlin, who faked from 3-point territory and pulled up from two, which missed.

Gilas then secured the rebound and threw the ball up as time expired.

After being down by as much as 20 points in the second half, 46-26, following a split from the free throw line by China’s Jinqiu Hu, the Nationals cut the lead to four, 71-67, with 4:34 remaining in the game after a Kevin Alas basket.

But China scored five straight points following a 3-pointer by Runwang Du and a 2-pointer by Hu to take a 76-67 upperhand with 3:07 remaining.

A CJ Perez 2-pointer and a floater by Brownlee cut China’s lead anew to five, 76-71, with 1:31 left in the game.

Brownlee then hit the jaw-dropping back-to-back treys.

The beloved Ginebra import played all but nine seconds of the game.

He scored 33 points, including seven 3-pointers, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists.

Rui Zhao led China with 18 points and six assists.

With Wednesday's pulsating victory, the current Gilas team – set up just weeks before the Asiad – has unseated China, which has dominated Asian basketball for quite a while.

In the finals slated 8 p.m. on Friday, October 6 (Manila time), Gilas will thus be figuring in a rematch with Jordan, which defeated them in group play.

It will mark the Philippines' first Asiad finals appearance since the 1990 edition of the Games, which was also held in China.

There, the Philippines finished second behind the hosts.

The guaranteed silver medal for the Philippines' in this year's Asiad is a first since 1998, when the Filipino ballers – who, interestingly, were also coached by current mentor Tim Cone –  brought home the bronze.