Gilas Pilipinas braces for tough NZ Tall Blacks clash at Asian Cup

Philippines bows to Chinese Taipei, 87-95

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GILAS Pilipinas got off to a fumbling start in the FIBA Asia Cup in Jeddah, dropping an 87-95 setback to old tormentor Chinese-Taipei on Tuesday night (early Wednesday in Manila).

But the Nationals won’t let this deflate their spirits or diminish their belief in their capability to still go all the way.

“We felt that coming in, we would have a chance to go far and this has made a big roadblock for us up here. That's something we have to overcome. If we have to come through the loser’s bracket, then we'll try to do that,” said coach Tim Cone.

After the loss, Gilas found itself running third in Group D with one point and -8 differential behind New Zealand (NZ) (two points and +22) and the Taiwanese (two points and +8). Iraq brought up the rear with one point and -22.