Justin Brownlee credits Gilas' team effort in tough comeback vs Indonesia

PHNOM PENH —Justin Brownlee may have carried much of the load for Gilas Pilipinas Men in their 84-76 win over Indonesia, but the naturalized cager said it was a team effort that helped them punch their ticket to the gold medal round of the 32nd SEA Games.

Brownlee dropped a game-high 34 points, 15 of which he churned out in the crucial payoff period, alongside nine rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks to lead the nationals in a comeback win. But he was quick to share the credit with his Gilas teammates in the victory.

"Man, just a great team effort," said the 35-year-old Brownlee.

"Indonesia... man, they fought very hard. And we just kept fighting with 'em."

The Filipinos had to erase a double-digit deficit to eke out the win as the Indonesians started strong with Lester Prosper leading the way for hosts. Brownlee said they just had to work doubly on both ends to catch the reigning gold medalist and keep their redemption bid alive.

Aside from Brownlee's output, Gilas got solid minutes from Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser who had 13 points, including a pivotal and-one basket in the 2:15-mark of the fourth, alongside four rebounds. Arvin Tolentino also buried some crucial triples to finish with 10 markers and three boards.

"They hit some big shots throughout the whole game. Once we're trying to get a run, they seem like they were just keeping us at bay. Luckily, we kept going with our offense, we kept shooting, kept going and shots fell for us," Brownlee added.

"We got some big offensive rebounds. Of course, our defense, I give a lot of credit. I don't know if they scored in the last few minutes but I think we got up and down pretty well in the last maybe three or four minutes."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News