Gilas Pilipinas in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup. –FIBA PHOTO
After finally getting its first win in the Fiba Asia Cup at the expense of Iraq on Saturday, coach Tim Cone declared his team’s readiness in dealing with the tough predicament it has to face in order to achieve the ultimate goal.
“We picked a tougher road to go but we’re ready to accept that challenge,” Cone said after Gilas’ 66-57 win that prevented a shock early exit while advancing in a qualification game for a spot in the quarterfinals of the competition being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Dwight Ramos made key shots when it mattered, and a collective defensive effort starting in the third quarter allowed the Philippines to break loose from a stubborn Iraqi resolve.
And the victory that eluded Cone and company against Chinese-Taipei and New Zealand finally came.
The win secured Gilas third spot in Group D at 1-2 and a matchup against the second-place team in Group C, which could either be host Saudi Arabia or Jordan.
That was being determined at press time with Saudi Arabia facing India and Jordan playing Group C leader China. Saudi Arabia, however, just needs a win to arrange a battle with Gilas on Monday.
READ: Gilas Pilipinas fends off Iraq, gets shot at quarterfinals berth
Saudi Arabia and Jordan came into the day with identical 1-1 slates, with the former holding the tiebreaker edge after winning their faceoff, 77-73.
Awaiting in the quarterfinals is the top team in Group A, which could likely be Australia after it picked up two victories in two games, the most recent being Friday’s 93-80 triumph over Lebanon.
Ramos tallied 21 points, 10 of which came in the third when Gilas finally got a firm grip on the contest that seemed like another struggle after Iraq took a pair of six-point leads in the opening quarter.
His back-to-back triples plus another from Justin Brownlee, one of the rare conversions he made on an otherwise cold afternoon at King Abdullah Sports City, gave Gilas a 44-35 lead, that the Filipinos rode on the way to staying in contention.
Defense, which Cone was harping about before the Asia Cup, finally came alive in that period, forcing Iraq to turnovers that put Gilas in a commanding lead.
AJ Edu was one of the anchors in that stance, getting three steals and blocking two shots apart from his nine points and seven rebounds for Gilas.
Iraq tried to mount a rally, trimming a 55-40 deficit at the end of the third down to seven in the fourth, but Gilas was able to pull away eventually.
“There was a lot of desperation in that basketball game,” Cone said as Iraq was also coming into the contest needing a win to secure the qualification spot. It exited the tournament on a 0-3 record.
“I thought they hit some shots early in the game and jumped on us, certainly worried us,” added Cone, who saw Gilas eventually rally to go into the break on a 33-all tie. “But we were able to get a tie at halftime and came out and rode on the hot hand of Dwight and that got us in the lead.
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“It was a big win for us. Any win at this point is a big win, just to rekindle our confidence a bit.”