WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas vs India Game Highlights [FIBAWC 2023 Asian Qualifiers | July 3, 2022]

Despite having only 10 players available for its game against India, Gilas Pilipinas nonetheless took care of business via 79-63 rout of the visitors, Sunday night in 3rd window of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asia Qualifiers at the SM MOA Arena in Pasay City.

Dwight Ramos led the charge for the Philippine national basketball team with 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field to go with 5 rebounds, 2 assists and a game-high 4 steals in 29 minutes of action.

“It was an important game for us. We needed to win. We had a tough trip in New Zealand. The way we got there, it was very difficult to play that game because of the level of the opposition,” said Gilas head coach Nenad Vucinic.

“We were all disappointed with the performance and we needed to bounce back. I want to congratulate the players on getting a good win,” he added.

“I think our defense in the first half was very good. We created a lot of turnovers for India and that set us up.”

Veteran guard Kiefer Ravena added 12 points while William Navarro chipped in 11. Carl Tamayo contributed 9 markers while Kevin Quiambao and Francis Lopez both finished with 6.

Geo Chiu paced the team in rebounds with 11 in addition to 5 points and 3 assists.

Both squads, along with New Zealand, will be part of Group E together with Lebanon (4-1), Saudi Arabia (3-2), and Jordan (3-2) for the 4th window of which is scheduled on August 25-29, 2022.