Gilas Pilipinas’ Justin Brownlee during a game against New Zealand in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup. –FIBA PHOTO

Gilas Pilipinas fell short in its comeback bid in the fourth quarter, ultimately losing 94-86 to New Zealand in the Fiba Asia Cup on Thursday (early Friday Philippine time) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Justin Brownlee’s 37 points couldn’t prevent the Philippines from dropping its second straight game as New Zealand came through with big plays despite seeing an 18-point second quarter lead reduced to three in the fourth.

LIVE: Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand – 2025 Fiba Asia Cup

Taylor Britt came up with big plays down the stretch, most of which came from Gilas Pilipinas’ offensive miscues and defensive lapses, as the Tall Blacks escaped with a victory to tie Chinese-Taipei atop Group D with similar 2-0 slates.

The Philippines, on the other hand, now needs to defeat Iraq, also at 0-2, in its final group game on Saturday to play in the qualification round for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Gilas Pilipinas’ Dwight Ramos during a game against New Zealand in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup. –FIBA PHOTO

Dwight Ramos added 19 points as he and Brownlee led the charge in the Gilas uprising in the fourth.

READ: Gilas ‘didn’t play a good one’ vs Taipei, admits Tim Cone

Brownlee’s triple with less than four minutes left cut the Gilas deficit to 85-82. but Britt scored six of New Zealand’s next seven points that kept the Filipinos at bay.

Jordan Ngatai was a problem for Gilas in the first half on his way to a team-high 22 points.

June Mar Fajardo had 11 points, four rebounds and three steals in a stark improvement from his previous game against Chinese-Taipei. But he sat out majority of the fourth when AJ Edu made significant contributions on defense.

Edu was scoreless but had six rebounds and three blocks while Scottie Thompson came up with two points, seven rebounds and four assists for Gilas in the loss.