Gilas Pilipinas has won only one of its seven meetings against the New Zealand Tall Blacks in any FIBA-sanctioned tournament.
Unbeaten Gilas Pilipinas face one of their toughest assignments yet in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers second window when they take on the New Zealand Tall Blacks at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay Thursday, Feb. 27.
[WATCH: LIVESTREAM: Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand in FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers]
The Filipinos enter the 7:30 p.m. showdown brimming with confidence after sweeping Guam in the opening window to build a 2-0 record, while the Tall Blacks sit at 0-2 following back-to-back losses to Australia.
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But history suggests Gilas will need more than momentum.
New Zealand has largely had the Filipinos’ number in FIBA competitions, winning six of their seven meetings in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments.
Their most recent encounter was in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia, where the Tall Blacks prevailed, 94-86.
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Naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee tried to will Gilas in that loss with 37 points, while June Mar Fajardo and Dwight Ramos were among the few to provide support.
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Gilas’ recent win over New Zealand came during the 2024 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, when Kai Sotto delivered a dominant all-around performance to power a narrow home victory.
This time, the Filipinos will again bank on their home crowd and improved chemistry as they try to stay perfect in the qualifiers — and flip the script against a Tall Blacks side that has long proven to be one of their most stubborn hurdles in Asia-Pacific play.
(With reports from Jan Ballesteros)
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[Editor’s note: This article was written by a member of One Sports Digital with the help of AI and reviewed by editorial staff for accuracy.]