Winless home stand as Gilas falls to Australia

Sports

ANOTHER home game, another loss.

Gilas Pilipinas ended up winless in its two-game home stand in the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers, losing badly to Australia, 66-93, on Sunday night, March 1, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gilas simply had no answer to Australia’s offensive juggernaut, failing to recover from a close 66-69 loss to New Zealand last Thursday to fall to 2-2 (win-loss) in Bracket A.

The Nationals and New Zealand are now tied at second place in Bracket A where Australia is sitting comfortably atop with a perfect 4-0 slate. Guam is at the bottom with a 0-4 record.

Leading Australia’s searing offensive attack was Elijah Pepper, who peppered Gilas with five triples for a 28-point performance.

Three other Australians scored in double figures in a balanced attack that helped seal the 27-point rout.

Justin Brownlee bounced back from a dismal four-point performance against New Zealand but his 20-point, eight-rebound, seven-assist proved not enough to save the Nationals against the Australians.

Quentin Millora-Brown was the only other Gilas player in double figures with 11 points.

THE SCORES:

AUSTRALIA (93)- Pepper 28, Krebs 18, Creek 13, Wilson 12, Kay 8, J. White 6, I. White 5, Froling 3, Smith 0, Holt 0.

PHILIPPINES (66)- Brownlee 20, Millora-Brown 11, Ramos 9, Edu 6, Newsome 4, Oftana 3, Thompson 3, Perez 3, Quiambao 3, Tamayo 2, Fajardo 2, Gomez de Liano 0.QUARTERSCORES: 14-13; 38-33; 68-53; 93-66.(CCM)