Gilas Pilipinas passed what many thought to be its first real acid test, blasting Chinese Taipei, 106-53, for a masterful home debut in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City on Sunday, Feb. 25.

Unlike in their first game, the quick-fire Nationals wasted no time in displaying their might as they went off to a blistering first half and never looked back since then to cap a sweep of the first window with a resounding 53-point win.

Justin Brownlee and Kai Sotto took turns in leading the charge in the first half onslaught before the rest of the crew continued padding the lead that reached 54 points.

Brownlee, as expected, looked more sharp in his second game back, finishing with a double-double of 26 points and 13 rebounds along woth four assists. Sotto was almost unstoppable inside the paint to scatter 18 points apart from his 10 rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

Four other players reached double figures in scoring as Gilas also notched its most lopsided win against the Taiwanese in recent memory. The Filipinos also did that with three of the original 12 – Jamie Malonzo, June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu – not available for the contest.

Calvin Oftana finished with 13 points while Dwight Ramos also chipped in 12. Carl Tamayo also had 11 points and six rebounds while Kevin Quiambao contributed 10 points and six boards.

Gilas didn’t look like it’s still adjusting to the system head coach Tim Cone is trying to employ as the Nationals dominated the Taiwanese in basically all fronts.

Picking up from the 37 assists they recorded in the 94-64 rout against Hong Kong, the Nationals had 30 this time in 36 field goals made while shooting 55 percent from the field including a 43.8-percent clip from deep.

In contrast, Gilas limited Chinese Taipei to 29-percent shooting from the field including a 24-percent clip from three-point territory. The Taiwanese offense never really got going all throughout the contest as they never scored more than 14 points in all of the quarters.