Although ranked 12 spots higher than the Philippines, New Zealand knew exactly what Gilas Pilipinas are capable of when they met in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025.
Jordan Ngatai and the rest of New Zealand knew what to expect when they took on Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Thursday, Aug. 7 (Manila time).
Though Gilas was coming off a stunning 85-97 loss to Chinese Taipei, the Tall Blacks refused to underestimate the Filipino dribblers and eventually ran away with a 94-86 win.
“Really physical game. Credit to the Filipino team. They’re a good squad,” said Ngatai.
[RELATED STORY: Brownlee on Gilas' loss to New Zealand in Asia Cup: 'I still like the fight in our guys']
Although ranked 12 spots higher than the Philippines, the No. 22 Tall Blacks came in prepared.
“We never came into this game underestimating them. I felt like if we did, it would have been a completely different story,” Ngatai said.
Ngatai was locked in, setting the tone early for the Tall Blacks as he poured 19 of his 22 points in the first half to help his squad lead by as many as 18.
He ended up with a perfect 5-for-5 from the three-point area.
As expected, the Filipinos fought back and came as close as 85-82 inside the final four minutes of action courtesy of a Justin Brownlee three-pointer.
[RELATED STORY: Dwight Ramos credits Pinoy fans in Gilas' 2nd half surge vs New Zealand in FIBA Asia Cup]
But that's when Taylor Britt took charge for the Kiwis and scored six points to finish off the gritty Philippine squad.
“We didn’t back down. We took it to them. And then the guys stepped up and made big plays," said Ngatai.
[RELATED STORY: Tim Cone, Gilas focus on mental adjustments after dropping to 0-2 in FIBA Asia Cup]
Despite stumbling to its second loss in as many games, Gilas still has a chance to advance to the quarterfinals but will have to beat Iraq to wind up at third place in Group D.
Gametime is at 4:00 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 9. (Manila time)