Gilas Pilipinas picked up its first win in its European buildup, taking down Ukraine's Under-20 team, 70-61, early Sunday morning, July 2 (Manila time), in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Justin Brownlee (Marita Brigitta Mones/Estonian Basketball Association)

The Nationals pulled away late after a tight contest in the first three quarters with Rhenz Abando, Justin Brownlee and Kiefer Ravena providing the lift in the telling fourth quarter run.

Gilas' sputtering offense remained a problem after only putting up 33 points in the first half although enough to take a slim two-point lead at the break.

It was only in the second half where Gilas pulled off some stops that fueled its offense as back-to-back transition baskets from Abando built a 59-50 lead – an advantage Gilas never relinquished until the final buzzer.

While glad how Gilas quickly picked up on its adjustments following its back-to-back loss against Estonia and Finland in Tallinn, head coach Chot Reyes felt his team could have played better against a relatively younger team.

"I was very pleased with how quickly we picked up the new things that we worked on yesterday in practice but to be very honest, although we won this game, I still think there were a lot of defensive lapses," said Reyes after the game.

"If I were to rate it, I think this is the worst game that we've played since the start. I know this is the game that we won but I thought there's a lot more to be desired," he added.

Gilas, though, played shorthanded in the contest without Scottie Thompson (back) and Chris Newsome (bruised knee).

"But of course, we came in without our top two point guards so it was kind of understandable. But still, in our overall journey in the process, we focused on cutting down on our turn overs, not giving up offensive rebounds and then being able to execute the defense we worked on yesterday. I thought we were able to do that," added Reyes.

Gilas will have another chance to correct its mistakes still against Ukraine on Monday, July 3.