AT the height of their last-ditch fightback try, Gilas Pilipinas playmaker Chris Newsome launched a three-pointer that was just a little bit short.
New Zealand made the Philippines pay in the next play—Corey Webster scored on a jumper that restored order for the Kiwis.
Propped up by a fiery start and a sustained charge, the Tall Blacks clobbered the Filipino cagers 87-70 at the close of Group B action in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the Spark Arena in Auckland last Saturday.
Newsome, who was foremost among those who anchored the Philippine five’s fourth-quarter rally, anguished in despair after missing his triple try that led to a Webster basket and made it a 79-66 game with 5:56 remaining.
That clutch bucket finally took the fight out of Gilas after it pulled to within 66-77 on a layup by naturalized star Justin Brownlee off a Newsome assist.
National coach Tim Cone said the Tall Blacks showed up simply too sharp and too good.
“The Tall Blacks came out and just smashed us early, and just gave us a smash mouth in the first quarter and we just really never recovered. They came out all with all guns firing, (Jordan) Ngatai hit a couple of threes early and got to the rim a couple of times and that kind of set the tone,” Cone said. “(Tohi Smith) Milner was great all night and we were just playing off on our heels the whole game, just trying to recover back from that early barrage. We had our opportunities to get the game tighter, but we just couldn’t make a big shot here or there. Maybe we would have got the game a little closer, but as it turned out, they ran away from it and they’re a great team.
“I mean, we knew they were going to be great coming in and we knew they were going to be excited about defending their home court. So none of this really surprises us, we just wish we could have played a little better and given a little bit better fight,” he added.
Smith-Milner torched Gilas with 25 points on five three-pointers, on top of nine rebounds and two assists while chimed in 14 markers and two dimes.
Reuben Te Rangi and Ngatai also combined for 23 as New Zealand avenged a stunning 89-93 loss to Gilas in the second window last year in Manila and topped the bracket with a 5-1 mark.
Despite winding up with a 4-2 mark, Gilas has already qualified like New Zealand for the Asia Cup set in August in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Newsome paced the Philippines with 13 points, one board, and two feeds while reigning eight-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo had 11 and five. Brownlee had 10 markers.
While the Nationals have fallen short of expectations lately, expect Cone and his charges to re-group and prove their worth in the tilt that matters.
