Stellar Brownlee game not enough as Gilas falls to Chinese Taipei

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Gilas Pilipinas suffers its first loss in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers at the hands of a retooled Chinese Taipei side despite a superb all-around performance by Justin Brownlee

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas could not have asked Justin Brownlee for a better performance.

In the end, though, Chinese Taipei simply proved to be the superior team and handed the Philippines its first defeat in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers after eking out a nail-biting 91-84 home win on Thursday, February 20.

Brownlee churned out 39 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, but his efforts went down the drain as the Filipinos bowed to the Taiwanese for the first time since the 2013 Asia Cup.

Catching fire from beyond the arc, Brownlee dragged the Philippines out of a double-digit hole by going 8-of-11 on three-pointers, the last of which gave the Nationals an 80-79 lead with 3:50 minutes to play.

But a retooled Chinese Taipei beefed up by naturalized big man Brandon Gilbeck and Mohammad Gadiaga closed the game on a 12-4 run, much to the delight of a loud crowd at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.

The Scores

Chinese Taipei 91 – Lin 21, Gadiaga 21, Lu 18, Ma 14, Gilbeck 8, Chen 5, Tseng 2, Liu 0, Chou 0, Lan 0.

Philippines 84 – Brownlee 39, Ramos 15, Edu 10, Fajardo 9, Newsome 7, Thompson 4, Perez 0, Oftana 0, Tamayo 0.

Quarters: 22-20, 47-45, 71-61, 91-84.

– Rappler.com