By Peter Atencio
Gilas Pilipinas wrote history on Thursday evening, upsetting world no. 6 Latvia, 89-80, in their own home turf in Riga, Latvia.
Justine Brownlee struck with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 9 assists for the world no. 37-ranked Philippines as they celebrated their win in Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments 2024 at the Arena Riga.
No Filipino team has won against a European side before as this was its first in 64 years.
It was during the 1960 Olympic Games when the Philippines won a close game against Spain, 84-82.
The Philippines wasted no time dominating its foes, taking a decisive lead off an 11-0 run to close the first quarter with a 32-16 edge on a buzzer-beating three by CJ Perez.
Latvia, which badly missed a big man Kristaps Porzingis, struggled to catch up afterwards, and fell short in the end.
Porzingis, one of the key players of newly-crowned NBA champion Boston Celtics, will be resting this summer to recover after he underwent successful surgery to repair a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon.
“I think we came out strong tonight, and we had a couple of rough minutes in the second half. But, we hung on, and we believed in each other. And we followed coach Tim Cone,” said Gilas big man Kai Sotto, who himself had monster numbers of 18 points and 11 rebounds.
