Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player Justin Brownlee was beaming with Filipino pride and joy as he finally donned the blue jersey he’s been dreaming to wear ever since feeling the love of the entire nation.

The well-loved amiable reinforcement, despite trying hard to hide and control his happiness, couldn’t take away the wide smile especially after steering the nationals to a convincing 107-96 victory over Lebanon.

“It’s very special coming to play here with Gilas, it just has been so much joy. I'm just very blessed and lucky to be part of the team and to be part of the naturalization. Just honored to put the Philippines on my chest and play for the flag,” said Brownlee who joined head coach Chot Reyes in the post-game press conference.

“The Philippines showed so much love. I just want to do my best and do everything I can to get some of the love back,” he added.

Brownlee didn’t feel like a newcomer in Gilas as he immediately clicked with the rest of the team – some of which he used to play with in the PBA while the others are some of his fiercest defenders in the league.

But the Philippine Arena, a venue where he authored his very first as well as his latest championship with Ginebra, proved to be Brownlee’s personal playground as he felt exactly at home from all of the corner’s off the court, drilling back-to-back triples to formally announce his inclusion to the national team.

“As a player you always want to come out and establish your rhythm and see those two going in, I think it put me in a good rhythm and got me comfortable throughout the rest of the game,” said Brownlee who finished with 17 points to lead Gilas’ balanced attack where six other players scoring in double-digits.

“The guys played very well. We played together and when somebody may have been slacking a little bit, like the coach said, we depend on each other. We pick that guy up or it is me that they pick up just luckily getting off to a good start,” he added.