GILAS Pilipinas fell to a hot-shooting New Zealand side, 87-70, and closed out its campaign in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on a losing note Sunday morning (Manila time) in Auckland.
The Tall Blacks came out firing off the starting gate and rained out the Filipinos with a hail of three pointers to take the initiative in the rematch between the top two teams in Group B.
It didn't take long for the home team to jump on a huge 53-33 lead at halftime, before enduring a determined fourth quarter comeback by Gilas to complete the win before a full-house crowd at the Spark Arena.
"Well, the Tall Blacks came out and gave us a smash-mouth in the first quarter, and we just really never recovered," admitted coach Tim Cone after the game.
That stretch saw New Zealand shooting 6-of-9 from beyond the arc to take a 30-15 lead after the opening period.
Sponsored content:
Going to the break, the Tall Blacks were already 10-of-19 from three-point range behind a hot 59 percent shooting from the field.
"They came out offense-firing and (Jordan) Ngatai hit a couple of 3s early and got to the rim a couple times and that kind of set the tone," added Cone.
In all, the Tall Blacks went 13-of-33 for a high 39 shooting percentage from the three-point territory.
Tohi Smith-Miner finished with a game-high 25 points, highlighted by a 5-of-10 shooting from rainbow country to lead the Tall Blacks to the win that avenged their 93-89 loss to Gilas last November at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The victory also clinched for the home team the no. 1 seed in Group B heading to the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia this August.
Sponsored content:
Gilas failed to notch a win in the third and final window of the qualifiers and fell to a 4-2 record for second place.
But the national team, cheered by a huge Filipino crowd in New Zealand, didn't go down without a fight despite trailing by as many as 28 points.
Chris Newsome and AJ Edu led the fourth quarter comeback by Gilas which cut the deficit to just 77-66 midway in the period, only to be stymied by the Tall Blacks, who went on an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 19 entering the final two minutes of play.
Newsome led Gilas with 13 points, veteran June Mar Fajardo added 11, while Justine Brownlee had a quiet game of 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Edu, coming in to take the place of the injured Kai Sotto, had seven points and a game-high 15 rebounds as he battled his way against the bigger Tall Blacks.(RG)
The scores
New Zealand (87) -- Smith-Milner 25, Webster 14, Te Rangi 12, Ngatai 11, Britt 8, Wynyard 7, Le'afa 5, Darling 3, K. Isaac 2, Brown 0, T. Isaac 0, Ball 0.
Philippines (70) -- Newsome 13, Fajardo 11, Brownlee 10, Oftana 8, Ramos 8, Edu 7, Aguilar 6, Tamayo 4, Perez 3, Quiambao 0, Thompson 0, Malonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 30-15; 53-33; 74-55; 87-70.
