PASAY CITY (Philippines) - The Philippines moved closer to the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 following a 93-54 romp of Hong Kong, Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Still on a high from upsetting New Zealand last Thursday, GIlas took the lead early although it wasn't until the third quarter where the crew would break the game wide open, eventually extending their unbeaten streak to four to stay atop Group B.
Now, they will need New Zealand (2-1) to take care of business against Chinese Taipei (1-2) on Monday in Christchurch to formalize their trip to Saudi Arabia next year.
Game heroes: Carl Tamayo top-scored for the Filipino dribblers with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field and 6 rebounds as he made the most out of Coach Tim Cone's decision to give the younger ones extended playing time.
June Mar Fajardo finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds to net an efficiency of 21, while Justin Brownlee supplied 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals
Kai Sotto tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds with 2 assists and the same amount of blocks as he continued his solid play after starring versus the Tall Blacks - much of course to the delight of the 11,896 fans that watched live.
Chris Newsome, Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, and Kevin Quiambao delivered solid showings as well, making Dwight Ramos' absence due to a calf injury hardly felt.
Turning point: Thompson himself was crucial in the third-quarter pullaway, forming a three-headed attack along with Brownlee and Fajardo to put together the decisive 13-0 run en route to a commanding 67-40 lead with 1:05 remaining in the period.
Stats don't lie: Gilas' dominance was big thanks to the way they rebounded the ball. They won the boards clearly, 57-34, as they maximized their size advantage against a team that only had two legit bigs in Duncan Reid and 24-year-old Pok Yuet Yeung.
They said: "In the second half, I felt that we came out and we got to the shooters a little bit better. We scrambled a little bit more. We should get out there because we've got protection behind us in June Mar and Kai. It's a little bit bothersome that we're allowing that many three-point shots. But I thought also offensively, we moved the ball a lot better in the second half. I think we had only 9 assists in the first half, then we had 15 in the second. When the ball moves, I think everybody feels like they're involved, and it carries over to the defensive side as well, and we started defending better." - Tim Cone, Head Coach, Philippines
"Our veterans always talk to us to be confident every time we step on the floor. We had a chance to play and we try to put our talent in the system of Coach Tim. I think I just took some shots that I make. I'm just happy." - Carl Tamayo, Forward, Philippines
"I feel like we are getting better each game but we need more time to develop. I think in the third quarter we rushed and defensively, we weren't really as stable and a ssolid as we could've been. I think we were better than what the score shows. I think oftentimes it should've been a 20, 25-point game instead of a 40-point game, but that's something we can learn from. Overall, our team is still quite young. I'm getting old, but I'm hoping that the young guys can improve and next window, we can have some better games." - Duncan Reid, Center, Hong Kong
"In the third quarter, even though we ran our plays an got good looks, we weren't able to make some shots. And with the quality of a team like us, the gap opened up a bit. But Coach is very happy with how we played offensively and the adjustments we made - both within the coaching staff and within the layers. One thing that we do need to work on is our ability to talk, our ability to communicate on the court." - Chiu Wing Leung, Head Coach, Hong Kong, China
FIBA