GILAS Pilipinas tightened its hold on an early lead in the 2027 FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers, cruising to a dominant 95-71 victory over Guam on Monday night at the Blue Eagle Gym in Quezon City.
Building on their opening-window win, the Filipinos seized control from the tip, pouncing on Guam with a 32-15 first-quarter salvo before methodically stretching the gap behind another all-around outing from naturalized star Justin Brownlee, who fired 20 points on top of seven assists and two rebounds.
Dwight Ramos delivered 19 points and six rebounds, while Kevin Quiambao added 12 as Gilas never trailed, snuffing out Guam’s early resistance despite a 27-point explosion from Jericho Cruz. The visitors faded after halftime as the hosts pushed the lead to as many as 24.
The night also became a sentimental milestone as veteran big man Japeth Aguilar — a three-time World Cup campaigner and one of the longest-serving Gilas members — was honored before tip-off for his 16-year national team career. Aguilar, part of the original Smart Gilas lineup in 2009, helped deliver the historic 2013 FIBA Asia silver and multiple regional golds.
Gilas now turns to a pivotal home stand early next year, hosting regional powers New Zealand on February 26 and Australia on March 1 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“It’s still ways away, but we have our eyes on it. We know New Zealand pretty well, we played them a number of times. We played Australia in the Asia Cup, we know what’s ahead of us,” said head coach Tim Cone.
“We know that it’s not gonna be easy, but we hope that playing at home, that’s gonna make a difference for us.”/PN
BOX SCORE:
Philippines 95 – Brownlee 20, Ramos 19, Newsome 10, Millora-Brown 9, Fajardo 7, Thompson 5, Tamayo 4, Edu 4, Aguilar 3, Perez 2, Abarrientos 0.
Guam 71 – Cruz 27, Simon 23, Galloway 10, Wesley 5, Blas 4, Africano 2, Johnson 0, Calvo 0, Hechanova 0, Borja II 0, Osborn 0, Fegurgur 0.
Quarters: 32-15, 50-36, 72-55, 95-71.
