Kai Sotto. Photo: FIBA
It took just eight months for Gilas Pilipinas to add another inspiring chapter to the basketball-crazed nation’s rich history.
In less than 24 hours, the team was rapidly adding more stories.
The Philippines lost 96-94 to Georgia late Thursday night, extending their winning streak at the FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Latvia, but still earned a spot in the semifinals despite the loss.
After winning their first Asian Games gold medal in 60 years last October, Gilas Philippines recorded a landmark victory in the FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) early Thursday morning with an 89-80 win over world No. 6 and host Latvia. It was the country’s first win over a European team in 64 years. But as national team coach Tim Cone stressed, the Philippines aren’t in Riga, Latvia’s capital, just to be a footnote.
“[W]”I didn’t come here just to win one game,” he said after the win over Latvia.
In fact, the Philippines nearly made it two straight wins against the European nations when they rallied from a 20-point deficit to take the lead late in the game before succumbing to the 23rd-ranked nation in the FIBA ​​rankings. Still, the 37th-ranked nation slammed the door on Georgia, bringing in a plus-18 score and ultimately holding on, propelling the Philippines into the semifinals and two wins away from a spot in the Paris Olympics.
“I want to get to the finals and see what happens if we get to the finals. That’s the real goal,” Cone said. The Philippines hasn’t played in Olympic basketball since Munich in 1972. Twelve years before their last appearance, the Philippines beat Spain 84-82 in a basketball qualifier for the Rome Olympics.
Brownlee shines in a new light
Since then, the Philippines hadn’t beaten a European team until Thursday’s thumping of Latvia, and Cone said his players were committed to making sure that victory wasn’t the highlight of the tournament.
Justin Brownlee had 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to lead Gilas again against Georgia at Arena Riga.
Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Featuring NBA big men Sandro Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze, Georgia got off to a strong start with some accurate shooting and looked on track to reach the final four.
But they had little answer for a strong fightback led by Pérez and youngster Carl Tamayo, who finished with seven points, and missed chances in the third period. Gilas managed to hold off Kai Sotto, who injured his right ribs in the first half, and will now face either Brazil or Cameroon in the semifinals. Sotto scored 18 points in a major upset against Latvia.
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Georgia was in a tough spot even before facing the Philippines, having had to beat Gilas by 19 or more points after a heavy 83-55 loss to Latvia two days earlier.
