Australia routs Gilas as Philippines enters second round on four-game slide

Gilas Pilipinas heads into the second round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers on a four-game losing streak after absorbing a 92-49 defeat to Australia on Monday evening (Manila time) at RAC Arena in Perth.

The Philippines has not recorded a win since completing a home-and-away sweep of Guam during the opening qualifying window.

Australia finished atop Pool A with a perfect 6-0 record, while New Zealand claimed second place at 4-2 after routing already-eliminated Guam, 129-75, earlier in the day.

Despite ending the first round on a sour note, Gilas will have a chance to regroup in Window 4, where it will host Jordan on August 27 and Iran on August 31 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, which will stage all Pool E games during the window.

The other Pool E matchups will feature Syria against Australia and Iran versus New Zealand on August 27. Three days later, Australia will face Jordan, while New Zealand takes on Syria.

“That next window will be tough. My understanding is they're neutral sites, and we're looking forward to the next step of the challenge,” Australia head coach Tim Caporn said. “We took care of business here, and now we move on.”

Playing without injured naturalized star Justin Brownlee, Gilas struggled from the outset as Australia stormed to a 24-8 lead behind its relentless defensive pressure.

The Boomers forced seven Philippine turnovers in the opening quarter, repeatedly disrupting Gilas before it could even cross midcourt. Kevin Quiambao scored the Philippines' first six points, but Australia still built a commanding 33-14 advantage after the first period.

“Well, it wasn't a lot of fun, that's for sure. It was a tough beating that we took tonight,” Gilas head coach Tim Cone said.

“We've had a really outstanding trip. We worked hard, went through a tough double-overtime game against New Zealand, then lost our best player and had to come here and face this team. They were simply superior athletes.”

June Mar Fajardo, who was held scoreless against New Zealand, sparked Gilas in the second quarter with six points while anchoring a defensive effort that limited Australia to just eight points in the period. The Philippines cut the deficit to 41-27 at halftime.

“We couldn't get into our offense. They defended us extremely well,” Cone added. “The second quarter was good, but we had trouble getting the ball across half court and running our sets. Their defense fueled their transition game, they knocked down their threes, and the game just snowballed from there.”

Australia quickly regained full control after the break as Cleveland Cavaliers guard Tyrese Proctor erupted for 11 third-quarter points, helping the Boomers pull away for good.

“I just love how our players responded at halftime. We got back to moving the ball offensively and playing our game,” Caporn said as Australia stretched the margin to as many as 43 points.

Gilas also suffered another setback late in the game when Mike Phillips injured his right shin while battling for a rebound with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter, reducing the team to 10 healthy players.

Juan Gomez de Liaño also appeared to hurt his left ankle while contesting an Angus Glover three-pointer late in the third quarter but managed to return for the closing minutes.

Australia received contributions from every player on its roster. Bryce Cotton led all scorers with 21 points, Proctor added 16, Mitch Creek contributed 13 points and seven rebounds, while Josh Bannan recorded an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

The Boomers shot an efficient 56.8 percent from the field and outrebounded Gilas, 53-44. The Philippines, meanwhile, converted just 35 percent of its field-goal attempts.

No Gilas player reached double figures. Dwight Ramos led the team with nine points despite shooting 4-of-16, while Fajardo and Quiambao scored eight points each. Gomez de Liaño added seven.

Phillips was among the few bright spots before exiting with injury, finishing with six points, a game-high 14 rebounds, and one block.