Gilas Pilipinas survived some anxious moments on the fourth quarter before hanging on for a nail-biting 84-83 quarterfinal win over Iran to crash the semifinals of the men's 5x5 basketball competition at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Justin Brownlee provided the go-ahead basket off a short baseline stab with 44 seconds left, capping off a tournament-high 36-point performance as Gilas booked its first Asian Games semifinal appearance in 21 years.
It didn't have to be this close, though.
With Brownlee leading the way, Gilas was thoroughly outplaying Team Melli through the first three quarters and held a 71-54 lead entering the fourth period. And after Calvin Oftana opened up scoring in the fourth with a layup, it appeared Gilas was well on their way to a comfortable win.
But Iran suddenly came alive, dropping a 19-2 bomb to cut it to 75-73. Team Melli eventually grabbed the lead at 81-80 behind Mohammadsina Vahedi's five-point burst before Brownlee and June Mar Fajardo scored a bucket each and Gilas dodged a major bullet when Matin Aghajanpour missed a wide-open triple with 17 seconds left.
Brownlee to the rescue again
As mentioned previously on Monday after Gilas defeated Qatar, the keys for this game would be how Iran could contain Brownlee, and if Gilas could knock down their 3-point shots.
On both counts, it was "mission accomplished", although for the 3-point shooting you could probably add "sort of."
Brownlee played just eight minutes the day before in Gilas' rout of Qatar, and the extra rest paid off immediately as he got into a rhythm early on with four triples in the first quarter. Behind his hot shooting from beyond the arc, Gilas controlled the first half, establishing double-digit leads a few times.
Brownlee had 15 points in the third period to help Gilas pull away, and although he was limited to just a basket in the fourth, it proved to be the game-winner. Iran didn't have anyone who could contain him one-on-one, and he repeatedly got to his spots, taking 21 shots and converting on 12 of them in 36 minutes of action.
As for the 3-point shooting, Gilas had five right in the first quarter, and though they hit just three the rest of the way, the last one was a huge conversion from Oftana that gave Gilas breathing room at 78-73 and knocked some momentum from Iran. Overall, Gilas shot 8-of-20 from the outside for 40%, above their tournament percentage of 26% heading into the game.
Tim Cone shortened his rotation for this game, playing Brownlee and Oftana 36 minutes each and Scottie Thompson nearly 30. Japeth Aguilar and Arvin Tolentino played just three minutes each, while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Ross were both DNPs.
Tough semifinal vs. hosts
Philippines last played in the gold medal match of the Asian Games way back in 1990, when PBA players represented the country for the first time.
To get back in the final for the first time in 33 years, Gilas will have to go through hosts China, who routed South Korea by 14 in their quarterfinal match-up.
China is fielding a slightly different team from their World Cup roster. Missing are naturalized player Kyle Anderson and top player Zhou Qi, but their twin towers Wang Zhelin and Zhang Zenlin are playing, as is point guard Zhao Jiwei, who is leading the tournament in 3-point field goal percentage at 60%.
All in all, nine players from their World Cup squad are in Hangzhou, and all of them certainly have not forgotten the humiliating defeat Jordan Clarkson and Gilas slapped on them in Manila.
History is also on the side of Team Dragon. China has won the men's basketball gold medal each time it has hosted the Asian Games. Gilas will have to overcome those odds plus what is expected to be a loud crowd, which already flexed its vocal chords in the fourth quarter and openly cheered for Iran.
If Gilas can play the way they played in the 30 minutes against Iran, then it should be an interesting semifinal on Wednesday.