HIGHLIGHTS: Philippines vs Brazil – FIBA OQT 2024 semifinals

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas bid goodbye to its Paris Games dreams as it crashed out of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, after a 71-60 loss to world No. 12 Brazil in the semifinals on Saturday, July 6.

Justin Brownlee paced the Philippines anew with 15 points and 8 rebounds, while Dwight Ramos added 13 points in the knockout match.

Kai Sotto, who played impressively in the tournament, sat out the entire game after getting hurt in the previous match versus Georgia.

Bruno Caboclo dropped a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds to pace Brazil, which will fight for an Olympic berth against the winner of the other semifinal duel between host Latvia and Cameroon.

Fourth quarter

FINAL: Brazil eliminates Gilas Pilipinas, 71-60, and advances to the finale
BRAZIL 71-60: CJ Perez with another layup
BRAZIL 71-58: Georginho de Paula long two
BRAZIL 69-58: CJ Perez layup
BRAZIL 69-56: Lucas Dias cleans up his own miss
BRAZIL 67-56: Carl Tamayo dials from long distance with two minutes left
BRAZIL 67-53: June Mar Fajardo drains his free throws
BRAZIL 67-51: Marcelo Huertas continues to take over in the fourth
BRAZIL 65-51: Dwight Ramos bucket
BRAZIL 65-49: Leo Meindl inside
BRAZIL 63-49: Marcelo Huertas with another pull-up jumper
BRAZIL 61-49: Justin Brownlee from deep
BRAZIL 61-46: Bruno Caboclo 2/2 at the line
BRAZIL 59-46: Bruno Caboclo and-one with 5:42 minutes left
BRAZIL 56-46: Marcelo Huertas for three
BRAZIL 53-46: Japeth Aguilar putback
BRAZIL 53-44: Marcelo Huertas pull-up jumper
BRAZIL 51-44: CJ Perez steals and scores
BRAZIL 51-42: Dwight Ramos sinks the corner trey

Third quarter

END OF 3Q: Lucas Dias beats the buzzer to give Brazil a 51-39 lead
BRAZIL 49-39: Lucas Dias makes it a 10-point lead with a triple
BRAZIL 46-39: June Mar Fajardo jumper is good
BRAZIL 46-37: Bruno Caboclo 2/2 at the line
BRAZIL 44-37: CJ Perez flips it in
BRAZIL 44-35: Yago Santos for three immediately after coming off the bench
BRAZIL 41-35: June Mar Fajardo ends the scoring drought for Gilas Pilipinas with a tip in
BRAZIL 41-33: Georginho de Paula splits his charity shots
BRAZIL 40-33: Bruno Caboclo skies for the dunk
BRAZIL 38-33: Marcelo Huertas scores to extend the Brazil run to 11-0
BRAZIL 36-33: Didi Louzada 1/2 at the line
BRAZIL 35-33: Leo Meindl corner triple is good, forcing Gilas Pilipinas to call timeout
GILAS PILIPINAS 33-32: Georginho de Paula steps back for the trey
GILAS PILIPINAS 33-29: Bruno Caboclo opens the second-half scoring

Second quarter

HALFTIME: Low-scoring affair has Gilas Pilipinas leading 33-27 at the half
GILAS PILIPINAS 33-27: Didi Louzada lefty layup
GILAS PILIPINAS 33-25: Marcelo Huertas swishes the midrange jumper
GILAS PILIPINAS 33-23: Justin Brownlee from long distance to restore the 10-point lead
GILAS PILIPINAS 30-23: Cristiano Felicio putback
GILAS PILIPINAS 30-21: Georginho de Paula long two
GILAS PILIPINAS 30-19: Justin Brownlee one-hander
GILAS PILIPINAS 28-19: June Mar Fajardo with another jump shot
GILAS PILIPINAS 26-19: Yago Santos for three
GILAS PILIPINAS 26-16: CJ Perez saves the broken play
GILAS PILIPINAS 24-16: Vitor Benite stops and pops
GILAS PILIPINAS 24-14: Yago Santos attacks
GILAS PILIPINAS 24-12: June Mar Fajardo fadeaway jumper is good

First quarter

END OF 1Q: Gilas Pilipinas off to a promising start as it leads 22-12
GILAS PILIPINAS 22-12: Justin Brownlee sinks his freebies
GILAS PILIPINAS 20-12: But Chris Newsome scores again
GILAS PILIPINAS 18-12: Leo Meindl ends the scoring drought for Brazil
GILAS PILIPINAS 18-10: Chris Newsome 1/2 at the line
GILAS PILIPINAS 17-10: Justin Brownlee from long distance as the Philippines controls the boards
GILAS PILIPINAS 14-10: Justin Brownlee stops on a dime and floats it in
GILAS PILIPINAS 12-10: Dwight Ramos going to work early
10-10: Lucas Dias for three
GILAS PILIPINAS 10-7: Japeth Aguilar cleans up his own miss
GILAS PILIPINAS 8-7: Dwight Ramos back-to-back threes
BRAZIL 7-5: Dwight Ramos from deep
BRAZIL 7-2: Bruno Caboclo flushes it home
BRAZIL 5-2: Chris Newsome puts Gilas Pilipinas on the board with a jumper
BRAZIL 5-0: Bruno Caboclo with the offensive rebound and the short stab
BRAZIL 3-0: Gui Santos opens the game with a corner triple

Starters

GILAS PILIPINAS – Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos, Japeth Aguilar
BRAZIL – Marcelo Huertas, Bruno Caboclo, Leo Meindl, Lucas Dias, Gui Santos

Preview

Two more wins and Gilas Pilipinas will play in the Paris Olympics.

The Philippines aims to inch closer to that goal as it battles Brazil in the knockout semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga, Latvia, on Saturday, July 6.

Expect Justin Brownlee to show the way for the Filipinos following a pair of near triple-double performances in the group stage, which saw the Philippines stun world No. 6 Latvia and drop a close loss to No. 23 Georgia.

Brownlee is averaging 27 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 8.5 assists in the OQT.

Four more are scoring in double figures for the Philippines, with Dwight Ramos (14.0), Chris Newsome (11.5), Kai Sotto (11.0), and CJ Perez (10.0) making their presence felt for the national team.

Sotto, though, is a game-time decision as he got hurt in the first half against Georgia after Goga Bitadze landed on top of him – an accident that kept him sidelined for the rest of the game.

“He is a game-time decision. No fractures but there is still soreness,” said team manager Richard del Rosario of Sotto.

While Brazil stands as the favorite being ranked 12th in the world, it is not invincible.

Brazil clinched the top seed in Group B, but not without a hitch as it absorbed a surprising 77-74 loss to 68th-ranked Cameroon.

Half of the Brazil roster have NBA experience, with Bruno Caboclo – a journeyman who played for the Toronto Raptors, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, and Houston Rockets – averaging 17.5 points and 6.5 rebounds.

Game time is 8:30 pm, Manila time. – Rappler.com