WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas vs New Zealand Game Highlights [FIBAWC 2023 Asian Qualifiers | June 30, 2022]

Gilas Pilipinas had no answer for New Zealand’s suffocating defense and absorbed a 46-point beating, 106-60, Thursday in the 3rd window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the EventFinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.

Struggling to put the ball in the hole, the Filipino ballers went down by 13 early in the match, 23-10, and never recovered. The Tall Blacks continued with their onslaught and brought a 26-point lead at the halftime break, 47-21.

Carl Tamayo led the young Gilas squad with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting to go with 5 rebounds and an assist in 18 minutes of action.

“Very tough night for this young team. We came across a Tall Blacks team that is playing with high intensity and very good execution,” said Gilas head coach Nenad Vucinic.

We struggled to contain them in that part of the game — physicality, intensity, and speed. And we struggled offensively to get things going,” he added.

“It is a good thing for the young players to understand at what level we need to be in for high level international basketball. Tall Blacks have dominated us in all aspects of the game and it will help us to get better in the future.”

Dwight Ramos led the team in rebounds with 9 but could only muster 6 points on a horrendous 2-of-11 shooting from the field. Rhez Abando added 11 markers while Francis Lopez finished with 8. Team captain Keifer Ravena chipped in 6 on 3-of-10 shooting in 26 minutes of play.

The Philippines dropped to 1-2 in the group standings after the lopsided loss but is still assured of a spot in the next round following the disqualification of Korea.

Gilas now heads home and will end the first round against India on Sunday, July 3 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.