Justin Brownlee said Gilas Pilipinas banked on sheer courage to defy all odds during their emotional 77-76 win against China in the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball semifinals.
The beloved Ginebra import, who is known for his propensity to knock down game-winning shots, admitted that Wednesday’s game is one for the ages.
“It was special; it was a special win for us. A special game, special effort, special team—I was speechless,” said Brownlee, whose dagger threes in the final minute completed the nationals stunning comeback against the host squad.
“Playing here in China, against China, (in front of a) very hostile crowd? It’s gotta be up there as one of the top five, I gotta admit. It feels good just to be alive.”
“(It was) purely heart, purely Filipino heart. Puso, that was the main thing.”
Everything seemed lost for the nationals, who trailed China, 76-67, in the last three minutes. But Gilas stayed with it, allowing Brownlee to display his offensive might and score the last eight points for the Filipinos.
“It ain’t over until the fat lady sings, until the buzzer. We just want to keep playing as much as we can, try to focus on our defense,” said Brownlee. “On offense, we struggled a little bit, but it definitely came, and in the end, we made some shots.”
The Philippines will now play Jordan in the gold medal match set for Friday. The Jordanians routed Chinese Taipei earlier, 90-71, in the other semifinal pairing.
It’s the first time the country is going to play in the final since an all-pro team bagged the silver medal in the 1990 Asiad behind legendary coach Robert Jaworski.
The post Brownlee cites ‘puso’ in Gilas stunning comeback vs China first appeared on Fastbreak.
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