TRUE to his expectations, Tim Cone found Chinese Taipei a team too tough to crack on Thursday night in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
The Taiwanese wouldn’t blink in the face of Gilas Pilipinas’ furious fourth quarter rally and came away with a 91-84 win before a packed crowd at the Taipei Heiping basketball gymnasium.
READ: Chinese Taipei endures Brownlee's 39 points to beat Gilas in thriller
The Filipinos battled their way back from a 10-point deficit and appeared momentum had shifted on their side after Justine Brownlee hit a clutch 3 with 3:56 remaining for an 80-79 Gilas lead.
But the home team kept their composure and retaliated behind a closing 12-4 run to deal the visitors their first defeat after five games in the qualifiers.
“I thought the Chinese Taipei team was very impressive. We made a couple of runs at them hoping that they would crack, but they never did,” admitted Gilas coach Tim Cone during the brief post-game presser.
The Taiwanese were 15-of-43 from three-point range with Ting-Chien Lin, Chun Hsiang Lu, and Mohammad Al Bachir Gadiaga accounting for 11 of those baskets.
Lin and Lu converted the last two of those three pointers during that closing endgame run that deflated the rallying Gilas Pilipinas.
“They kept their composure and they kept on making big shots. Very impressive win by them. They were well deserving,” added Cone.
Brownlee, who dropped a game-high 39 points on 8-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc, and added six rebounds and eight assists, agreed with his long-time coach.
“They hit some big shots every time we tried to get a rhythm or make a run,” said the naturalized Gilas player.
“They just responded very well.”
Gilas whipped Chinese Taipei in their first meeting in the qualifiers a year ago, 106-53.
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