Gilas Pilipinas started slow, but drew 22 points from JuneMar Fajardo and survived an inspired Chinese Taipei shooting spree to win on hostile territory, 93-71, Friday night in the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
Fajardo led a 15-4 windup at the close of the second quarter as Gilas went on to take a 44-37 halftime lead.
The 6'11" Fajardo then sparkeda 10-0 run in the third period, allowing Gilas to coast to a fourth triumph in five matches in the home-and-away qualifiers.
Earlier, Gilas fell behind, 4-12, and 30-21 after Chinese Taipei struck with seven three-pointers in the first half in front of a big home crowd cheering them on.
The Philippines' 4-1 win-loss record put them in a share of the Group B lead with Australia, which lost its first game in the qualifiers, 78-79, at the hands of Japan.
Jayson Castro contributed 15 points, while returning player Terrence Romeo was also productive with 14 points and six assists. Andray Blatche chipped in 13 markers.
When Chinese Taipei took the nine-point lead with 7:21 left in the second period, Romeo replied with a three-pointer to cut the lead back to six again.
From there, Gilas tied the game at 33-all after a fastbreak layup from Romeo.
Chinese Taipei answered with a trey from Yi-Hsiang Chou to break the tie, but Gilas countered with an 8-0 run to take a five-point edge, 41-36, with 1:37 remaining in the half.
Matthew Wright then knocked in a triple to put Gilas on top, 44-37, at the half.
Gilas stayed in control in the third and went up by 13, 60-47, with a layup from Castro at the 4:50 mark.
