Justin Brownlee made a resounding debut with Gilas Pilipinas, helping the Filipino cagers pull off a vengeful 107-96 win over Lebanon in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Friday night, Feb. 24, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
Brownlee marked his first game as a naturalized Filipino player with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, as the Filipinos avenged their 81-85 loss to the same Lebanon team last Aug. 25 in Beirut.
Emerging as Gilas’ surprise package was the youthful Mason Amos, who also debuted in style after coming up with a spectacular third quarter showing.
Amos went 3-for-3 from the three-point range in the third period where he finished with 11 points that helped the Filipino break the game wide open.
Amos ended the match with 13 points built on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from the field.
Also playing big for Gilas was Jamie Malonzo, who wound up with 15 points, and five boards. The high-leaping Barangay Ginebra player also completed a thunderous slam that sent the crowd on its feet in the second quarter.
Jordan Heading, back in Gilas uniform for the first time in over a year, Ray-Ray Parks and Dwight Ramos each had 10 points.
Gilas ended the first quarter with a 25-19 lead and doubled the advantage at the half, 53-41.
With Amos catching fire, the Filipinos pulled away in the third and brought an 82-64 lead into the final quarter.
Tallying their fourth straight win in the competition, Gilas improved to 9-5 (win-loss) in Group E, while Lebanon fell to 7-2.
Gilas’ last assignment in the Qualifiers will be against Jordan on Monday, Feb. 27, at the same venue.
Image courtesy of FIBA
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