The last time the Philippines managed to emerge victorious in an official competition against a European national team, Tim Conte was seven years old. At 66, he was one of the protagonists of the historic success his country reached in their FIBA OQT debut in Riga.
Arena Riga was ready to celebrate another success after dismantling a Tornike Shengelia-less Georgian national team, possibly going 2-0 to qualify as the 1st-seeded team in Group A, positively heading to the Semi-Finals.
Instead, the shocking upset took place in front of thousands of Latvian fans in the stands, who never stopped cheering and supporting their heroes. Gilas turned an unbelievable outcome into reality, winning 89-80 to put themselves one foot and a half into the next stage.
Justin Brownlee’s appearance surprised everybody
Last year, Jordan Clarkson – who looked excited on social media after his team’s win – took the naturalized spot for Chot Reyes’ squad at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Manila, leading the Philippine national team to the latest victory over China.
The Utah Jazz‘s guard’s presence didn’t allow Justin Brownlee to be present in a big tournament which was held at home, but the 36-year-old experienced guard – who has played for ages in the Philippines – erupted for almost a triple-double with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists in the win against Latvia.
“The world doesn’t really know much about Justin Brownlee, but for me, he is the Michael Jordan of Philippines basketball”, Kai Sotto said about him after the game in the mixed zone. “That’s what we expected him to do and that is what he does every night”, he added.
“Man, it was big for us. We have a lot of respect for Latvia. It feels great, but we’re definitely not satisfied. We [are] hungry and confident moving forward”, Justin Brownlee said in the mixed zone.
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