1st Quarter 🏀 Gilas Pilipinas VS New Zealand 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers

FIRST QUARTER UPDATE:

END OF 1Q: Sam Waardenburg beats the buzzer to give New Zealand a 22-20 lead

20-20: Flynn Cameron makes both free throws

GILAS PILIPINAS 20-18: Calvin Oftana gives the Philippines its first lead with a corner triple

NEW ZEALAND 18-17: Kai Sotto with the dream shake

NEW ZEALAND 18-15: Kai Sotto flips it in

NEW ZEALAND 18-13: Corey Webster continues to do damage

NEW ZEALAND 16-13: Chris Newsome 2/2 at the line

NEW ZEALAND 16-11: Izayah Le’afa from deep

NEW ZEALAND 13-11: Kai Sotto drops it off to June Mar Fajardo underneath

NEW ZEALAND 13-9: Dwight Ramos wide open for the corner trey

NEW ZEALAND 13-6: Justin Brownlee with back-to-back buckets

NEW ZEALAND 13-4: Sam Waardenburg for three

NEW ZEALAND 10-4: Justin Brownlee inside

NEW ZEALAND 10-2: Sam Waardenburg scores over Kai Sotto

NEW ZEALAND 8-2: Kai Sotto puts the Philippines on the board with a pair of free throws

NEW ZEALAND 8-0: Back-to-back triples for Corey Webster

NEW ZEALAND 5-0: Corey Webster drains the long bomb

NEW ZEALAND 2-0: Walter Brown tips it in

Starters

GILAS PILIPINAS – Justin Brownlee, Kai Sotto, June Mar Fajardo, Dwight Ramos, Scottie Thompson

NEW ZEALAND – Taylor Britt, Walter Brown, Corey Webster, Tyrell Harrison, Sam Waardenburg

Preview: The Filipinos have dropped their first four FIBA-sanctioned matches versus New Zealand by an average margin of 24.3 points, including a 92-75 setback in their last encounter in the Asia Cup back in 2022.

But with the Philippines parading a deeper and a more experienced 12-man lineup bannered by Justin Brownlee this time around, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Tim Cone believes the Filipinos are well capable of finally scoring a breakthrough win against the Kiwis.

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“I don’t think they’ve seen a team like the team we’re assembling before so I think we got a shot at beating them,” said Cone.  

Coming off a grueling PBA Governors’ Cup finals run with Barangay Ginebra, expect Brownlee to show no signs of fatigue and lead the charge for the Filipinos as they shoot for a 3-0 slate in Group B.

Gilas Pilipinas is currently tied with New Zealand at the top spot of Group B with identical 2-0 records, and the winner of this highly anticipated showdown will inch closer to securing an outright berth in next year’s Asia Cup. 

Aside from Brownlee — who led the Philippines with 21 points per game in the first window — look for Japan B. League standouts Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos to deliver as the Filipinos go up against a new-look New Zealand side powered by high-scoring guards Izayah Le’afa and Corey Webster, as well as former PBA import Tom Vodanovich.

Le’afa and Webster did not see action for the Tall Blacks in the opening window last February as they were then led by another ex-PBA reinforcement Ethan Rusbatch. 

Curiously, Rusbatch — who averaged a team-best 16.5 points in the Kiwis’ first two matches — is not included in their 13-man pool for the second window.

Game time is 7:30 pm

Source: Rappler.com

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