Gilas Pilipinas will play Guam in a pair of games in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, beginning with the Filipinos visiting their Pacific foes on Friday, November 28.
Gilas Pilipinas’ road to the 2027 FIBA World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles begin Friday, Nov. 28.
The Nationals visit Guam for the first of two games in the first window of the qualifiers, where they are also bunched together with powerhouse teams Australia and New Zealand in Group A.
The match kicks off at 5 p.m. (Manila time).
On many fronts, Gilas (No. 37) look way better than Guam (No. 81).
But the Philippine side is not taking the Guamanians lightly. After all, Gilas’ pacific neighbors are playing in their homecourt at the Yigo Village, Calvo Field House.
Gilas coach Tim Cone admitted feeling wary of a hungry Guam playing defending their turf.
“Its a whole different ball game when you’re playing at home. Players play differently in front of their home crowd, in their homecourt,” Cone said during the team’s sendoff Monday, Nov. 24.
Justin Brownlee leads the Gilas 12 that will enter enemy territory before hosting Guam on Dec. 1 at the Ateneo Blue Eagle Gym.
Also in the lineup were June Mar Fajardo, Japeth Aguilar, Dwight Ramos, Scottie Thompson, Chris Newsome, AJ Edu, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Cjay Perez, as well as newbies Quentin Millora-Brown and RJ Abarrientos.
For live updates about the Gilas-Guam match, refresh this page.
Halftime: Guam 29-40 Philippines
After the first quarter ended with a 17-17 tie, Tim Cone pushes Gilas to make a nine-zero scoring run as part of their 23 points in Q2. The Filipinos create a lead of up to 11.
Guam, meanwhile, was only forced to 12 points in the second frame.
Leading scorers by halftime:
Philippines: Justin Brownlee (17 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist) | Dwight Ramos (8 points, 5 rebound, 1 assist)
Guam: Jericho Cruz (15 points, 2 rebounds) | Jonathan Galloway (6 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist)
Kevin Quiambao delivers quality minutes for Gilas Pilipinas. He makes his seven points in the second quarter, plus one assist to Dwight Ramos.
End of first quarter: Game is tied 17-17.
Leading scorers: Jericho Cruz (Guam): 13 points, 2 rebounds | Justin Brownlee (Philippines): 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist
Quentin Millora-Brown makes his first points for Gilas Pilipinas early in the first quarter.
Starters:
Guam: Jonathan Galloway | Joe Blas | Takumi Simon | Jericho Cruz | Tai Wesley
Philippines: Scottie Thompson | June Mar Fajardo | Dwight Ramos | Justin Brownlee | Quentin Millora-Brown
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.