It ain't over ‘til it's over.

With its backs against the wall, Gilas Pilipinas refuses to go down without a fight as it battles for survival against Iraq in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup on Saturday, Aug. 9, at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Tip-off is at 4 p.m., with the Nationals looking to dig deep and muster one last push to stay in contention for a spot in the qualification round of the continental tournament.

Despite the disappointment of a 0-2 start—a position the team hadn’t anticipated—head coach Tim Cone made it clear that Gilas isn’t ready to wave the white flag just yet.
“We're disappointed, but the tournament's not over for us. We have a big game against Iraq coming up and see if we can get into the next round,” said Cone following Gilas’ 94-86 loss to the Tall Blacks.

A win would send Gilas to the qualification round for the quarterfinals, where they would face the second seed from Group C. A loss, however, would eliminate the Filipinos from title contention.
“We just need to keep battling, keep our heads going forward and don't sink because of these last two losses. We can't afford that, there's still more to do and we're going to be ready for our next game,” Cone said.

There were some positives to take from the loss to New Zealand, particularly in the last two quarters where Gilas finally bared its defensive fangs and limited the Tall Blacks to just 39 second-half points after a 55-point output in the first two frames.
“In the second half, we're playing the way we're supposed to and I'm just hoping that we carry this momentum to the next game,” said Dwight Ramos who, like the rest of the team, is also eager to repay the enthusiastic Filipino crowd in Jeddah with a win.

Standing in Gilas’ way, however, is an equally hungry Iraq squad eager to barge into the win column and advance to the next round.

The Iraqis are coming off back-to-back blowout losses — a 100-78 defeat to New Zealand and an 87-60 setback against Chinese Taipei.

In contrast, Gilas kept things closer against the same opponents, losing by an average margin of just 8.0 points.

Still, complacency isn’t an option, especially with Iraq showing flashes of scoring potential, notably through Abdullah Hayder Alibraheemi, who dropped 20 points against Taipei.

Justin Brownlee is once again expected to spearhead the Filipinos' offense after his 28-point outburst against New Zealand, but he’ll need more support from the likes of Calvin Oftana, Scottie Thompson, and June Mar Fajardo to keep Gilas' campaign alive.