RANGED against an equally determined foe, Gilas Pilipinas needed to bring its A-Game against Iraq last Saturday.
Do-it-all wingman Dwight Ramos was foremost among those who rose to the challenge.
For the 6-foot-4 Ramos, he simply heeded the call of National coach Tim Cone.
“Similar to what coach said, we needed that win to give us confidence,” Ramos said. “We were feeling down a little bit. Last couple of games, we’ve been losing.
“So, this one kind of raises our spirits and it was tough,” he added.
With naturalized star Justin Brownlee having an off-night, Ramos stood at the forefront of the Philippine five’s 66-57 victory over the Iraqis in a do-or-die duel and kept alive its hopes in the FIBA Asia Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Ramos uncorked 21 points spiked by three three-pointers, on top of six rebounds and two assists for the wards of Cone, who notched a breakthrough—and all-important-win—win in the continental tilt.
Gilas tangles with host Saudi Arabia early tomorrow morning in the qualification to the quarterfinals.
Brownlee was held to only eight markers, although he pulled down five boards and issued seven dimes for Gilas.
That’s just fine for Cone.
“We came out and rode the hot hand of Dwight and that got us a little bit of a lead. Gave it up a little bit, but we held on and so it was a big win for us,” Cone said. “Any win at this point is going to be a big win for us because we needed one to get under our belt.
“We needed to have a win to kind of rekindle our confidence.”
For Ramos, it was all about making the needed adjustment after a 33-all standoff at the half.
“In the beginning, they were making their shots, but once we tightened up the defense and played a little bit more under control,” he said. “I think we were able to stretch a lead there.”
