JUSTIN Brownlee got to his offensive rhythm early as Gilas Pilipinas grabbed a 48-36 halftime lead over Iran in their quarterfinal duel in the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball tournament at the ZJU gymnasium.
READ: Why Brownlee saw limited action vs Bahrain
Brownlee, who played for only eight minutes in the 80-41 win over Bahrain the day before, hit his first three three-pointers to end up with 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the outside to help Gilas gain control at the break.
Scottie Thompson also got going with 11 points and four rebounds, while June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez added six apiece for Gilas, which is looking to make the Asiad semifinal for the first time since 2002.
Mohammadsina Vahedi had 10 points while Iran's top scorer of the tournament Navid Rezaeifar was held to six in the first half.
Iran cut the lead to four points in the second quarter, but Perez took control and CJ Oftana hit a big basket while Brownlee rested on the bench to spark Gilas' breakaway entering the halftime break.
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