Australia manhandles Gilas in FIBA World Cup Qualifiers clash

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Australia put on a 3-point shooting clinic to dismantle the Gilas Pilipinas Men’s National Basketball Team, 93-66, in the second window of the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers on March 1, 2026, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.

The win helped Australia protect its undefeated World Cup Qualifiers record at 4-0, while the Filipino hoopers absorbed their second consecutive loss, dropping to 2-2 after a perfect 2-0 start in the tournament.

Gilas was once again reminded how fundamentally sound the Australians were, as they were outmatched and outworked on both ends of the floor.

Despite the anticlimactic ending, Gilas showed a couple of positive signs in the game, headlined by Justin Brownlee’s resurgence coming off his worst-scoring performance as a naturalized player.

In the previous loss to New Zealand, Brownlee finished with only four points on a dismal 2-of-10 shooting from the field. Against Australia, the Barangay Ginebra resident import led Gilas with 20 markers, eight rebounds, and seven assists.

A mano-a-mano first-half thriller treated the thousands of Filipino fans who flocked to MOA, with Gilas even gaining a slight advantage, 11-9, during the opening quarter of the game.

However, the Filipinos held the lead for only 1 minute and 8 seconds, as Australia stormed back, bucking a slow shooting performance with field goals from Mitch Creek to restore order and the cushion.

Unfortunately, it was the only time Gilas led in the game, with the Australians already entering attack mode midway through the second quarter, en route to a five-point lead at the half.

After several adjustments to its signature pick-and-pops and baseline kick-out drives, Australia started to look invincible in the first five minutes of the third quarter, torching Gilas with four early 3-pointers that ballooned its lead to double digits.

As a result of Australia’s rejuvenated offense in the third frame, Gilas quickly faced a 15-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, which was too hard to overcome when the visitors further amped up their ball movement for more quality looks from downtown.

It was pretty much over after Australia mounted its largest lead of the game at 29 points, outscoring Gilas, 25-13, to wrap up the FIBA second window with a convincing win in uncharted territory.

In the end, Australia connected on 15 triples at a 35.7% clip, while the struggling Gilas hit just nine of 31.

“It was a very painful one,” said Gilas head coach Tim Cone after the loss.

“It was a very painful second half. Painful to be a part of, painful to watch. Especially being in front of our home crowd. We wanted to be better than that.”