MANILA, Philippines — Tim Cone admitted that losing big to Australia in front of the Philippines’ home crowd was “painful” to watch.
With a full house Filipino crowd packing the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday night, Gilas Pilipinas managed to hang on the coattail of Australia during the first half, before letting go of the game, leading to a 93-66 blowout loss in window 2 of their FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.
“It’s very painful one, painful to be part of, painful to watch, especially in front of our home crowd,” Cone said in his opening statement to the press after the game.
“We want to be better than that.” The Filipinos kept the game close after trailing by just five points, 33-38 at halftime. But with Elijah Pepper and Tanner Krebs leading Australia’s shooting in the second half, the Boomers outscored the Filipinos, 55-33 in the last two periods to score the runaway victory.
Pepper led Australia with 28 points, making five triples, whilr Krebs had 18, knocking down four three.
Cone felt Gilas was executing the game plan well during the first half, which allowed the home team to keep the match close.
But the Philippines, he said, lost the energy to compete the moment Australia began hitting from the three-point zone, turning what has been a tight contest into a ghastly rout.
“But when they started stretching their lead, I think we got deflated, lost our energy,” he said.
“It was hard to chase those guys. They’re the no. 5 team in the world,” Cone added, pointing to Australia, which improved to a perfect 4-0 record.
If there’s any consolation for the Philippines, it’s the fact that the national team gained a spot in the second round after New Zealand hammered Guam, 99-67 earlier on Sunday.
The Philippines, which dropped a narrow 66-69 decision to New Zealand, is now tied with the Tall Blacks at 2-2.
Guam stays winless at 0-4.
and the Nationals’ back-to-back wins against Guam to open the qualifiers, Gilas punched its ticket to the next round.
“We’re not going to lose our berth in losing to New Zealand and Australia,” Gilas coach Tim Cone said afterwards.
The third and final window is scheduled this July with all three ballclubs looking to secure higher seeding to end the opening round.