Philippines men’s basketball team secures finals spot at Asian Games for 1st time in 30 years
By Bryan Ke
October 5, 2023
The Philippines has secured a spot in the grand finals of the men’s basketball games at the Asian Games for the first time in over 30 years after Gilas Pilipinas beat China in a tense match on Wednesday night.
Key details: Gilas Pilipinas won against China 77-76 during the men’s basketball semifinal at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday night.
Intense comeback: China took the lead 76-67 with 3:07 time remaining in the fourth quarter. The Filipinos managed to catch up against the home team 76-71 after CJ Perez and Justin Brownlee had two points each with 1:31 left on the clock.
Brownlee then unleashed back-to-back three-pointers, which led the Philippine team’s score by one. With 23.3 seconds left in the game, Gilas fought back and defended against China’s offensive, culminating in a win for the Filipinos 76-77.
“Only happens in movies”: Speaking to reporters after the miraculous comeback win, Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone noted that what happened that night “Doesn’t happen [in real life]” and “only happens in movies.”
“I am just absolutely shocked that we’re here, in front of these people, and talking about a win,” he said. “You have these games once a few times in your career – I’ve been around for 34, 35 years – you have a few of these along the way, but you never have them in this big of a stage in this magnitude.”
Their return: Gilas’ recent win marked the first time the team has reached the finals since 1990. The Philippines entered the finals at the 1990 Asian Games hosted in Beijing, where they lost to China and settled for a silver medal.
Gilas Pilipinas will be facing Jordan for a rematch game on Friday at 8 p.m. Philippine time. Gilas lost to Jordan 87-62 during the group stage.
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