Gilas falls to Chinese Taipei in FIBA Asia Cup opener

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Different venue, same disappointing result.

Six months after Chinese Taipei ended a nine-year losing streak against Gilas Pilipinas, the squad repeated the feat with a 95–87 win in the opening game of the FIBA Asia Cup on Aug. 6, 2025, at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Unlike their tight February matchup, Gilas faltered early in this encounter, falling behind by 17 points in the first quarter, 27–10.

Gilas struggled to contain Chinese Taipei’s outside shooting, giving up too much space from beyond the arc.

The hot-shooting Taiwanese squad hit 44.4% from three-point range, connecting on 12 of 27 attempts.

Turnovers also hurt Gilas, as Chinese Taipei forced 16 and converted them into 18 points.

Chen Ying-Chun proved to be the difference, dropping 34 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including six threes.

He exposed Gilas’ slow pick-and-roll defense and repeatedly attacked June Mar Fajardo, the PBA’s eight-time MVP.

Chinese Taipei executed a simple yet effective approach — shoot when open and move the ball quickly when the defense rotated.

That philosophy, combined with clutch shooting, shut down two comeback attempts by the Filipinos.

Gilas rallied in the second quarter behind Calvin Oftana and Justin Brownlee, trimming the deficit to four, 32–28.

But Brandon Gilbeck, Chinese Taipei’s naturalized center, responded with second-chance baskets to halt the run.

Gilas made another push in the fourth quarter, sparked by Kevin Quiambao, who cut the lead to six, 80–74.

However, more timely threes from Chinese Taipei and Brownlee’s foul-out with under five minutes left ended any hopes of a comeback.

Without their main closer, Gilas lost offensive cohesion and failed to generate crucial points down the stretch.

Head coach Tim Cone pointed to foul trouble and a lack of discipline.

Chinese Taipei made 27 of 35 free throw attempts, while Gilas converted just 9 of 15.

“Obviously, we didn’t play a very good game,” Cone said.

“I’m disappointed with the way we performed. We got behind early and were on our heels the entire way. It felt like we were in panic mode for all 40 minutes.”

Gilas looks to bounce back tonight at 11 p.m. against the New Zealand Tall Blacks, who also defeated the Philippines in their last meeting.