MANILA – Justin Brownlee carried Gilas Pilipinas back from 20 points down to score a 77-76 stunner over host China in the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball semifinals last night at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
Down 32-53 early in the third quarter, Brownlee ignited Gilas Pilipinas’ offense with two outside shots followed by inside conversions from Jaymar Perez and Earl Scottie Thompson to cut the deficit to 50-62.
Brownlee continued his outburst in the fourth quarter. He knocked in back-to-back triples to cut the deficit to 58-64, but China responded with free throws from Junlong Zhu and a triple from Zhao Rui to make it a 69-61 lead.
When Gilas Pilipinas threatened anew to within 67-71 after a basket by Chris Newsome and five straight points from Kevin Alas, China created separation at 76-67 via a triple from Runwang Du and a basket from Jinqiu Hu.
But the Philippine team went on with its finishing run. Back-to-back inside hits from Perez and Brownlee cut China’s lead to 71-76 before Brownlee unloaded consecutive three-pointers to give Gilas Pilipinas the upper-hand at 77-76 with 24 seconds left.
Brownlee finished the game with 33 points, including seven three-point conversions. Earl Scottie Thompson added 13 markers.
Gilas Pilipinas will face Jordan in the gold medal match on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Filipino boxer Eumir Felix Marcial advanced to the finals of the men’s 71-80 kilograms category after a second round stoppage win over Ahmad Ghousoon of Syria in the semifinals.
Marcial, who became the fourth Filipino athlete to qualify to the 2024 Paris Olympics with his semifinals win, will face Tanglatihan Tuohetaerbieke of China in the gold medal match tonight.
Unlike Marcial, Carlo Paalam fell short of a podium finish in the men’s 57-kilogram category after bowing to Abdumalik Khalokov of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.
Abdumalik, a gold medal winner in the 2023 IBA World Boxing Championships, outclassed Paalam in every rounds en route to a unanimous decision verdict to reach the semifinals round.
The sepak takraw quadrant team, on the other hand, gave Team Philippines its first-ever Asian Games medal for the sport by capturing a bronze on Tuesday afternoon at the JSG Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
The squad of Jason Huerte, Mark Joseph Gonzales, Rheyjey Ortouste, Ronsited Gabayeron, Jom Lerry Rafael, and Vince Alyson Torno settled for a bronze medal finish after bowing to reigning gold medal winner Indonesia in the semifinals, 2-1.
Sepak Takraw was first included in the Asiad in 1990./PN
BOX SCORE:
PHILIPPINES 77 – Brownlee 33, Thompson 13, Fajardo 8, Perez 8, Alas 5, Oftana 4, Newsome 4, Kouame 2, Aguilar 0, Lassiter 0, Ross 0.
CHINA 76 – R. Zhao 18, Zhu 10, Wang 10, M. Hu 10, J. Zhao 9, H. Hu 8, Du 6, Zhang 4, Cui 1, Cheng 0.
Quarterscores: 17-19, 30-48, 50-62, 77-76.
