By REYNALD MAGALLON
Those who stayed up late to watch Gilas Pilipinas celebrated in jubilation while those who never gave the Nationals the chance against world No.6 Latvia missed out on what should be a historic chapter to Philippine basketball.
Gilas pulled off the biggest upset of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament and brought down host and world No.6 Latvia down to its knees with an historic 89-80 victory to open its 2024 Paris Game bid at Riga Arena in the wee hours of Thursday, July 4.
The Filipinos came out firing on all cylinders and led by as many as 26 points before showing great poise down the stretch to survive a desperate rally from the Latvians and pick up the country’s first ever victory over a European team in the last 64 years.
Justin Brownlee, who is making a habit of ending droughts for Gilas after previously halting a 61-year gold medal drought in the Asian Games, weaved his magic anew and finished with an all-around effort of 26 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
But it was not Brownlee alone.
Kai Sotto emerged and lived up to the lofty expectation that he has long carried on his shoulder, providing support with 18 points and eight rebounds while June Mar Fajardo added 11 points, five rebounds and three steals.
Got thrust into the point guard duties after Scottie Thompson suddenly became unavailable due to a back injury, Dwight Ramos and Chris Newsome stepped up and delivered with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Gilas head coach Tim Cone, who made sure that his wards firmly believe that they can pull off what everybody seemed unthinkable, prepared the Nationals to everything the Latvian threw at them all throughout the contest.
Gilas opened the quarter with a strong 8-0 start and kept the lead for quite some time before Latvia seemingly finally got their bearings going and threatened to comeback after cutting the lead down to just five, 21-16.
The Filipinos, armed with unwavering resolve, did not falter and instead unloaded an 11-0 counterattack, capped by a buzzer-beating triple by CJ Perez to establish a huge 16-point lead.
That had been the story of the game from there. Gilas provided answers to every Latvia run – including a huge fourth quarter rally that cut the once 74-48 lead to just 10, 81-71.
Brownlee retaliated with a four-point play but Latvia kept coming and came within single digits, 85-77. But there was the response again, this time, from Newsome who buried two pressure-packed free throws that virtually sealed the deal for the Filipinos.
Rodions Kurucs paced Latvia with 18 points while NBA big man Davis Bertans finished with 10 in a losing effort.
With the win, Gilas has one foot already in the semifinals and a win against Georgia later in the day would formally seal their entry.
