Gilas Pilipinas Boys lose to New Zealand, face crucial qualifier vs Japan

Earl Medina's strong performance in the second half was not enough to prevent Gilas Pilipinas Boys from a 75-58 loss to New Zealand in their Group D match at the 2024 FIBA U18 Asia Cup on Wednesday.

Medina scored an impressive 30 points, but lack of support from his teammates left Gilas with a 1-2 record and third place in Group D, setting up a crucial qualifier against Japan for a quarterfinals spot on Friday, September 6 at 9:30 PM Manila time.

New Zealand's Carter Hopoi led all scorers with 23 points, while Tamatoa Isaac and Kahu Treacher contributed 16 and 11 points respectively, securing New Zealand a perfect 3-0 record and an outright quarterfinals slot.

Gilas was overwhelmed early in the game with a deficit of 23-9 and could not recover from there on, making their journey to the Top 8 more challenging.

Only the top four teams will qualify for the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland, with Gilas needing a strong performance against Japan to secure advancement.