MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas bowed out of the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 after suffering a wire-to-wire 84-60 defeat to Australia Boomers in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Boomers took control early, opening with a 16-4 run fueled by hot outside shooting from Jaylin Galloway and Jack McVeigh en route to establishing a 29-12 advantage.
Gilas Pilipinas responded with a run from Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo to trim the deficit to 19-31, but Australia banked on their inside game to build a 48-28 halftime lead.
The Philippine squad had a better offensive flow in the third quarter as they outscored the Boomers, 22-21, but they were still trailed by 19 points at 69-50 after three quarters.
The Boomers, however, started the fourth quarter strong as they stretched the advantage to its biggest at 25 points, putting the fight away from Gilas Pilipinas for good.
Owen Foxwell top-scored for the two-time defending champions Boomers with 17 points, including three outside conversions, while Galloway added 15 markers, with four three-point connections.
Jack MacVeigh also hit double-digits with 12 markers, while Xavier Cooks and Will Magnay tallied 10 apiece for Australia, which advanced to the semifinals round with the win.
Quiambao led the way for Gilas Pilipinas with 17 points, while Dwight Ramos and Justin Brownlee finished with 15 and 10 markers, respectively.
The loss marks another setback for Gilas Pilipinas against Australia in FIBA men’s competition. This was their first encounter since their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers match that ended in a brawl.
Gilas concluded the tournament with a top-eight finish — an improvement from their ninth-place showing in 2022 — after posting a 1-2 record in the group stage and defeating host Saudi Arabia, 95-88, in the qualification phase./PN
