The home team was crushed in the second half of the match.
On Sunday, March 1, the Gilas Pilipinas National Men’s Basketball team returned to the court at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
In the said 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier game, which happened days after losing to New Zealand Tall Blacks, they battled it out against Team Australia.
The match started off strongly for the Philippine team, which, despite not having taken the lead, was only one point behind Australia, 13-14.
By the end of the first half, that gap slightly got bigger with the Aussies having a five-point margin against the Pinoys, 33-38.
Soon, while Gilas attempted to play catch up, the other team from the “Land Down Under” was pulling farther away and that gap doubled and by the end of the match, it was already a 27-point gap, 66-93.
Updated standings now see Australia with a clean 4-0 record in the tournament, while Philippines is now at 2-2.
Despite this loss, the Gilas squad still remains in tbe qualifiers, as just before the game, they were already guaranteed to finish among the top three teams in the Group A, where New Zealand and Guam also belong.
