Following New Zealand's 91-64 victory over Chinese Taipei, Gilas Pilipinas officially qualified for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 in Saudi Arabia.
To finish their November window homestand with a 2-0 sweep, Gilas defeated Hong Kong, 93-54, in the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Dominant showing
Carl Tamayo, who was seldom used in Gilas' shocking 93-89 victory against New Zealand on November 21 at the Mall of Asia Arena, came through to lead Gilas, with 18 points, six rebounds, and one assist.
Gilas are now 4-0 in Group B of the Asia Cup qualifiers.
The game’s outcome guaranteed that Gilas would finish in the top two of Group B at the end of the qualifications and prevented a potential three-way tie at 4-2 with New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.
Among the Asia’s best
Other unbeaten teams include Australia (4-0 in Group A), Japan (4-0 in Group C), Jordan (3-0 in Group D), Iran (3-0 in Group E), and Lebanon (3-0 in Group F), in addition to the Philippines (4-0 in Group B).
En route to becoming one of the undefeated teams in the qualifiers, this Gilas team took down the New Zealand Tall Blacks, something no previous team has done.
The Filipino dribblers lost their first four encounters against the current 22nd-ranked team in the world, dating back eight years ago.
