Gilas Pilipinas could not complete their comeback try against the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers second window Thursday, Feb. 26.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone did not hide his frustration after his team suffered a 66-69 loss to New Zealand in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Thursday night, Feb. 26.
There was no reason for him to feel good, as the Nationals failed to defend their homecourt and absorbed their first defeat after a 2-0 start at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m happy about our performance. The bottom line is we’re not going to feel good or take pride in the fact that we got close or we almost won,” said Cone after the match.
“Bottom line is we’re here to win, and we didn’t do that.”
[WATCH: LIVESTREAM: Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand in FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers]
Cone’s charges crawled back from 11 points down in the final frame behind Dwight Ramos, who ended up with a team-high 16 points he topped with eight rebounds and two steals.
His five points inside the final minute, the last two coming from a layup at the 8.1-second mark, allowed the Filipinos to close in at 66-68.
[RELATED STORY: LIST: Memorable Gilas Pilipinas upsets in Tim Cone era]
Dwight Ramos rallies Gilas Pilipinas against the New Zealand Tall Blacks. | Photo: RM Chua/One Sports
The Tall Blacks' Reuben Te Rangi split his shots from the foul line a second later to give his team a three-point breathing room.
Ramos then heaved a three-point attempt from half court, which bounced off the rim.
On a night Justin Brownlee struggled mightily on offense, Cjay Perez kept the team afloat early, scoring Gilas' first 10 points. He went on to finish with a near double-double of 15 points and eight rebounds.
Brownlee was limited to just four points but had six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.
[RELATED STORY: Quentin Millora-Brown out to prove Gilas bigs can hold the fort until Kai Sotto returns]
Juan Gomez de Liaño made a splash in his Gilas comeback with 10 points, a rebound and two assists.
“Credit goes to them (New Zealand) because they defended well,” Cone said.
“We showed up to win, and we didn’t do that tonight," he reiterated.
Meanwhile, Max Darling led the Tall Blacks with 11 points, while Sam Mennenga put up a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Alex McNaught added 10 points New Zealand, which chalked up its first win after losing its first two matches.
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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.