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| Carlin Davison helped New Zealand break Gilas' hearts in the end. Dennis Acosta |
MANILA—Gilas Pilipinas could not find the needed finishing punch to stun New Zealand on the road as the host prevailed, 106-102, in a double-overtime thriller to open the third window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers on Friday at the Spark Arena in Auckland.
Gilas looked to be poised to score a much-needed away win as Justin Brownlee, who was struggling all game long, hit a three-pointer that upped the Filipinos' lead to four, 100-96, right at the two-minute mark.
However, four straight free throws from Reuben Te Rangi and Carlin Davison and a slam from Sam Mennenga put the Tall Blacks up, 102-100, with 52.2 seconds remaining.
Kevin Quiambao saw his three-pointer that could have given Gilas the lead back rattled out, but Carl Tamayo's offensive rebound set up his fellow KBL star's floater that tied the game at 102-all with 32.7 seconds left.
Mennenga, though, outhustled Brownlee for the putback that put the Kiwis ahead again, 104-102, with 14 seconds remaining.
Davison then jumped high enough to catch Juan Gomez De Liaño's inbound pass, with Jordan Ngatai recovering the ball that virtually iced the game for New Zealand.
Te Rangi led the Tall Blacks, who jumped to second place in Group A at 3-2, with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Shea Ili added 21 points, one rebound, and six assists, while Sam Waardenburg put up 16 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Gomez De Liaño, who showed prowess down the stretch by scoring a game-tying three in regulation to force the first overtime and another triple that could have won it for Gilas, and Quiambao each tallied 23 markers for the Philippine team, which will now fly to Perth to take on mighty Australia on Monday night.
