By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Promise fulfilled for the Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team.
After exiting the past edition of the Southeast Asian Games with a disappointing silver medal during the tagged ‘Horror in Hanoi’, Gilas Pilipinas was quick to bounce back this year after completing its redemption tour with a gold medal in the men’s 5×5 basketball event last May 16, 2023, held at the Elephant Hall 2 of Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
It was a sweet payback for the Filipinos after avenging its elimination round loss to Cambodia in the gold medal match, 80-69, to win its 19th men’s 5×5 basketball championship title in the biennial sporting event.
Newly-naturalized Filipino Justin Brownlee continued his international magic after leading the national team with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
Hobbled by cramps due to fluid loss during their first encounter against Cambodia five days ago, the current resident import of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel struck early for Gilas and was getting his desired matchups everytime Cambodia was involved in the switch.
Brownlee was on fire from the get-go and hit Gilas’ first basket of the game off an elbow jumper from the right side of the court.
The efficient small forward then stepped on the gas pedal when Gilas needed him the most in the crucial final canto.
When Cambodia trimmed Gilas’ double-digit lead in the first four minutes of the fourth, Brownlee sent in a huge dagger three-pointer to answer the home bets’ offensive avalanche that extended the national team’s lead back to 11 points, 70-59.
Despite Cambodia putting up easy baskets in the paint, Brownlee always provided the answer for Gilas backstopped by crucial plays from CJ Perez, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Marcio Lassiter.
Chris Newsome also stepped up for head coach Chot Reyes and paid off the trust of the whole coaching staff after tallying 16 markers built from a barrage of mid-range jumpers.
With the win, Gilas is now back at the top of the SEA Games pedestal and just shut their doubters up when they tasted their lone loss against Cambodia during their second game of the tournament.
“A lot of people doubted this team the first time we lost. But the first words I told them when we lost was this was the one we could afford. And I thought that was the loss that we needed,” said Reyes.
