AUCKLAND (New Zealand) - Months of waiting for revenge ended in success as New Zealand dealt the Philippines an 87-70 beating at the Spark Arena for a rousing conclusion to their FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers campaign, Sunday.
Hungry for payback after absorbing that shocker of a loss in Pasay last November, the Tall Blacks leaned on their hot shooting to dictate the pace early and stayed ahead the rest of the way to make sure that no repeat would take place.
Not only did they accomplish retribution but the wards of Coach Judd Flavell have also emerged as the best team of Group B by emerging triumphant in the battle for the no. 1 seed as the two squads were in a tie entering the match.
With that, New Zealand will finish with a 5-1 record while the Filipino dribblers ended up at 4-2 - that, after losing both of their assignments this Window 3.
"I think for us, there was a lot of importance on this game to come in and secure top seed, first and foremost, out of our pool and into the Asia Cup," said Flavell post-game. "Secondly, also, just to establish and cement a little bit more of our identity."
Tohi Smith-Milner led the way with a game-high 25 points on 5-of-10 shooting from deep and 9 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block for an efficiency of 28.
In his second game back with the national team, the seasoned internationalist proved to be a headache to the visiting side early with his marksmanship, having nailed three triples in just the first quarter to help steer themselves to a 30-15 lead.
By halftime, he already had four of their 10 threes - that, despite being hounded by foul trouble with three - as they built a commanding 53-33 advantage.
Three other players finished in double figures in the victory, with lead guard Corey Webster contributing 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor. Reuben Te Rangi supplied 12 points and 9 rebounds, while Jordan Ngatai added 11.
But it wasn't all smooth-sailing for the home team. After leading by as many as 28, the crew got into testy waters when Gilas rallied back and came within just 11, 77-66, with 6:28 to go in the final frame behind Chris Newsome and Justin Brownlee.
Webster, though, put that run into a halt with a jumper, sparking a 9-0 run - capped by Smith-Milner - to restore order, 85-66, with under three minutes left.
Eventually, the Tall Blacks would find themselves beating the Philippines again as they have now won five of their six meetings in FIBA competitions.
Newsome led the Southeast Asian side with 13 points. Brownlee finished with 10 as he was clearly the focal point of New Zealand's defense after that sensational 39-point outing in their eventual loss to Chinese Taipei on the road last Thursday.
Chinese Taipei end Qualifiers with back-to-back wins
And Chinese Taipei made sure that their big win won't go for naught as they sent out Hong Kong, China winless by way of a 99-83 result at the Tsuen Wan Stadium.
Coach Gianluca Tucci's men pulled away from a seven-point lead early in the fourth on the way to completing a sweep of their Window 3 fixtures to head into the Qualifying Tournament for Third-Place Teams with an even 3-3 record.
Lin Sin-Kuan finished with 21 points to lead Chinese Taipei. Ma Chien-Hao and Sammy Manu each had 14 points, while Lin Ting-Chien produced a line of 13-5-4.
Brandon Gilbeck was just a point shy of a solid double-double as the bruising big man collected 9 points and 18 rebounds, along with 2 blocks.
Duncan Reid and Glen Yang, on the other hand, had 15 and 14 points, respectively for Hong Kong, China, who finished the Qualifiers with a 0-6 record.
FIBA