Not even a herculean effort from Justin Brownlee could save Gilas Pilipinas from the upset axe of Chinese Taipei, dropping a tough 91-84 decision in the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers at the Taipei Heping Gymnasium on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Brownlee, like what he usually does, carried the entire team on his shoulders with 39 huge points but were not enough as the Nationals fell short of their comeback bid against the determined hosts.

Chun Hsiang Lu delivered the dagger to the heart of the rallying Gilas, burying a clutch triple in transition to create the much-needed breathing space, 89-84, with 49 seconds left.

The Filipinos actually had the chance to tie the game in the possession prior but Brownlee rattled out the floater that could have knotted the contest at 86-all.

Instead, the miss led to the booming triple and a couple more miscues – a missed rebound that led to a Brandon Gilbeck dunk and a turnover on the last inbound play – slammed the door on Gilas comeback.

Chinese Taipei, now with a younger and retooled roster, avenged its 106-53 loss to Gilas last year.

Ting-Chien Lin fired 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the hot-shooting Chinese Taipei which buried 15 triples. Mohammad Al-Bachir Gadiaga, who was a menace to the Gilas defense in transition, also chipped in 21.

Lu added 18 while Chien-Hao Ma added 14 as Chinese Taipei defeated Gilas for the first time since 2013.

Brownlee tried to do everything he got, adding eight assists and six rebounds to his name but hardly had any help from the rest of the crew with only six players in total scoring for the team.

Only Dwight Ramos and AJ Edu were the other players in double figures with 15 and 10, respectively, as a series of scoring droughts came haunting Gilas anew – first when it trailed by as many as 10 in the first half before recovering just in time to stay within two at the break, 45-47.

Another dry spell for Gilas and the continuous hot-shooting from Chinese Taipei in the third erected a 77-65 advantage for the hosts early in the fourth. 

Gilas, though, came back and even took the lead at one point, 82-81, before the Taiwanese, who were in dire need of victory to keep their hopes of making it to the FIBA Asia Cup, showed great poise to survive the higher-ranked Filipinos.