MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas gunner Dwight Ramos is not crying over spilled milk, knowing the national team has another big and strong opponent coming up on Sunday.
The 6-foot-4 Ramos led Gilas’ gutsy endgame comeback that fell short as the Fil-American missed his three-point attempt just before the buzzer sounded, enabling New Zealand to walk away with a 69-66 win Thursday night.
Ramos and the rest of the Gilas players were obviously disappointed, and so were the thousands of Filipino fans that packed the SM Mall of Asia Arena during the hard-fought window FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers match.
“I was trying to bank it in, and it just didn’t fall. But it’s not just about that shot, you know? I missed a lot of other shots, and I just have to be better in the future,” said Ramos when flocked by media men after the game.
Ramos played the role of a gun-slinger for the Philippines, as he led the national team in scoring with 16 points, but had to earn every basket as evidenced by the volume of attempts he had.
The current Levanga Hokkiado import shot just 6-of-21 from the field overall, and made only one of 10 shots from the three-point land.
The do-it-all guard did contribute eight rebounds, two steals, and an assist in a gutsy effort against New Zealand’s physical defense “I mean, I just try to stay aggressive because obviously, a lot of the focus was on JB [Justin Brownlee],” explained Ramos. “If you just watch him and expect him to do everything, it’s a lot of load on him. Everyone has to be aggressive and play their part. I just try to do mine. I was not the best today, and I’ll just try to be better moving forward.” While Gilas absorbed its first loss after a 2-0 start, the national now braces for another basketball giant with world no. 6 Australia as its next opponent.
The Boomers handled the Filipinos pretty well during their most recent face off, an 84-60 blowout loss in the knockout quarterfinal in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“We’re gonna try and learn from this game. It was a close game; obviously, there’s a lot to learn because every possession counts. We’re gonna check over the mistakes and learn from this,” said Ramos, who’s expected to be a marked man by Australia.
The Boomers already booked a spot in the second round after hammering Guam, 93-80 last Thursday in their own window 2 match.