Gilas Pilipinas absorbed its first defeat in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers after falling short in its comeback attempt against Chinese Taipei, 91-84, on Thursday, February 20, at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
This was the national team’s first loss to Chinese Taipei in men’s basketball in 12 years or since 2013.
Always-spectacular Justin Brownlee, though, was a madman on the offense, listing 39 points on a red-hot 8-of-11 clip from beyond the arc and making the passes with eight assists and collecting six rebounds — but that impressive all-around play went down the drain as the Nationals were on the receiving end of the loss.
Gunner Dwight Ramos, who spearheaded a mini-run in the second frame, tallied a total of 15 points and collected five boards when the dust settled. Big man AJ Edu joined them in the twin-digit scoring territory as he registered 10 markers, six boards and two dimes.
The Chinese Taipei side led by as much as 13, but Gilas was able to cut that down in a thrilling final chapter which even saw the Tim Cone-coached squad take the driver’s seat at 80-79, courtesy of Brownlee’s triple at the 3:50 mark.
Ting-Chien Lin, who finished with 21 points for the home squad, drained a trey to snatch the lead once more, 84-82, with more than three minutes left.
Meanwhile, the away team — as it turned out — wasn’t really able to recover from there.
After Edu made a jumper to put Gilas within two, 86-84, with 2:16 ticks left, Brownlee suffered a crucial turnover off a bad pass.
Brownlee then had a chance to make it a tie game on the same count in the final minute, but he missed, as Chinese Taipei’s Chun Hsiang Lu pounced on Gilas’ woes, drilling a heartbreaking three to stretch the lead to five, 89-84, with 49 seconds remaining in regulation.
The opponents then marked their victory with an exclamation point as Brandon Gilbeck slammed one home to the delight of their fans.
Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga joined Lin at the top of the boxscore for Chinese Taipei, tallying 21 points, four rebounds, and two steals.
Chun Hsiang Lu helped his team break the hearts of Gilas supporters after nabbing 18 markers on 4-of-9 shooting from rainbow country. (ABS-CBN News)