GILAS Pilipinas put itself in position for a stunning upset in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament by opening a 54-38 halftime lead over Latvia right in its home court.
Fueled by an 8-0 start, Gilas raced to leads as high as 18 points, needing only to keep their lead in the final 20 minutes of the game to shock the world's No. 6-ranked team.
Latvia showed signs of life late in the second quarter to cut the gap to to as low as nine but the Philippines responded with Justin Brownlee and Dwight Ramos draining baskets to make it an 16-point game at the break.
Brownlee had 16 points in the first half, while Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo had 11 and nine points, respectively, for Gilas.
So good was Gilas’ first quarter that CJ Perez even buried a buzzer-beating three to give the Nationals a 32-16 lead.
The Filipinos made 20 of 34 shots (59 percent) in the first half and went 5-of-8 from threes. They also outrebounded the hosts, 20-19.
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