Gilas Pilipinas vs. New Zealand: Score and Reaction from 2015 William Jones Cup

Gilas Pilipinas kept their 2015 William Jones Cup gold-medal hopes alive Friday with a hard-fought 92-88 victory over New Zealand in overtime at Xinchuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

Jayson Castro led the Philippines with 22 points, while Donaldo Hontiveros added 21 in what was one of the highest-scoring games of the tournament thus far. With the victory, the FIBA Asia representative improved to 4-2 on the tournament.

Although Gilas didn't have an answer for former Texas A&M star Bryan Davis as he scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Wellington Saints, a lack of scoring punch outside the starting lineup is what ultimately did New Zealand in as the Philippines held a 49-16 advantage in bench points.

The Kiwis held a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter due largely to the fact that Gilas put them at the free-throw line a whopping 44 times as opposed to just 15 attempts from the charity stripe in their own right.

It seemed as though the odds were stacked against the Philippines, but two of its oldest players in 38-year-old Hontiveros and 42-year-old Asi Taulava came through when it mattered most.

Hontiveros was especially dominant in overtime, scoring 11 of his 21 points in the extra session, including three trifectas. According to Musong R. Castillo of Inquirer.net, the Alaska Aces star was taken aback by how locked in he was with the game on the line:

It would have been extremely easy for Gilas to fold when down late in the game, especially after a demoralizing loss to Iran on Thursday, but that wasn't the case as they dug in and fought for their William Jones Cup lives.

As pointed out by Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin, there is no question that they earned the result they ultimately garnered:

Former Filipino national team head coach Chot Reyes agreed and suggested Gilas Pilipinas showed a great deal of "puso," which translates to "heart" in English:

New Zealand entered Friday's matchup as the top offensive team in the tournament, and while Gilas weren't exactly able to slow them down in that regard, they didn't get torched by any one player other than Davis.

The Philippines managed to keep the likes of Eric Devendorf, Ray Turner and Brook Ruscoe largely in check, and with New Zealand's reserves playing an extremely minuscule role, that was enough to push Gilas to victory.

Gilas Pilipinas have enjoyed greater crowd support than perhaps any other team at the 2015 William Jones Cup, and that was evident following their big win. Taulava nabbed a selfie with a sea of Philippines fans:

Although Gilas still face an uphill climb in terms of winning the tournament due to Iran's current standing, the fans still have plenty to cheer about as their team is still technically in the running.

Even if Gilas Pilipinas fall short of their ultimate goal, they have performed quite positively in Taiwan, which sets them up to make a deep run in the FIBA Asia tournament with a spot in the Olympics on the line.

The Filipino men's basketball team hasn't qualified for the Olympics since 1972, and while it won't necessarily be favored to do so this time around, either, it showed the type of determination Friday that could take it a long way when qualifying begins in China on Sept. 23.

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