In Riga, Latvia, the Gilas Pilipinas Men have just achieved the virtually impossible.

Against a lineup that pits Kai Sotto against the Latvians and a tandem of Justin Brownlee and the towering June Mar Fajardo, the Baltic team could not compete. With these two weapons in tow, the 37th ranked Philippines swept 89-80 from start to finish, a team that unearthed an amazing pace for the 2024 FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Gilas' win adds up to the fact that it is the first time the Filipino national team has beaten a European team, according to Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas since 2002. In Sondrio, Italy, earlier, RP Selecta triumphed over Ukraine with 100–98. This latest success enhances the Squad's possibilities to win the championship in the Philippines besides pointing to the fact that the team is regularly enhancing its positions in the world ranking.

"The Philippines had an excellent performance from the very beginning, they were very sharp, imposed their physicality, and found good solutions in the offense. That's a good lesson for us. This can set the tone for such a tournament. Croatia had an amazing win against Slovenia and today they lost to New Zealand, like a fresher team the Philippines." Latvia head coach, Luca Banchi

Gilas head coach Tim Cone said, "This is not something we thought we would be able to do, to be honest with you. We just wanted to come in, compete, and put on a good show."

The remaining games are scheduled on Thursday, with Georgia playing against the Philippines. Although they would reach the semifinals to play either Brazil Cameroon or Montenegro, they had won. They would also be provided with the best seed out of their pool of seeds.

However the Latvians would win especially if their big win against Georgia had happened when the Philippines lost. Further, Georgia would have to win by a margin of 19 points or more.

"We didn't execute our offense and didn't do our job in defense, that was the initial focus. We let them play their game and they were responding. We didn't make our shots and we lost our energy in defense, we were lacking." Latvia forward, Rodions Kurucs

In doing so, the Philippines endured to keep their dreams of Paris alive.

Sotto and Fajardo like the twin towers did equally well. CJ Fajardo fired 11 markers coming from five baskets out of six attempts and RR Sotto contributed 8 rebounds and 8 points. Point guards: Ramos and Newsome also contributed most during this game. In this match, Ramos scored 12 points, took 7 rebounds, and made 4 assists, proving the importance of balance in a target-oriented team.

He scored three points, having been credited with an assist on Brownlee's three-point play that gave Gilas Pilipinas an 89-80 win over Latvia in the 2024 FIBA ​​Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Riga. He had an impressive performance of scoring 26 points, 9 rebounds, as well as contributing 9 assists to contribute to this historic win, enough to garner him the TCL Player of the Game title.

Sotto praised Brownlee, "The world doesn't really know much about Justin Brownlee, but for me, he is the Michael Jordan of Philippines basketball, "That's what we expected him to do and that is what he does every night."

Brownlee remained humble when informed that Kai Sotto had described him as the "Michael Jordan of Philippines basketball" as he replied, "I appreciate this coming from Kai, but I'm just out there trying to do my best, trying to do whatever I can to help the team win."

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