Kevin Quiambao the 'highlight' for Gilas Pilipinas in FIBA Asia Cup opener vs Chinese Taipei

Kevin Quiambao's performance did not go unnoticed even if he played in a losing effort. 

The young Gilas Pilipinas forward injected life into his team's second-half comeback attempt against Chinese Taipei in their 2025 FIBA Asia Cup opener early Wednesday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Though he sat out the entire first half, KQ finished with 17 points in the second half while also grabbing four rebounds and two assists in just 16 minutes of action. 

The former UAAP MVP also made key plays, igniting a personal 5-0 run early in the fourth quarter and burying a step-back three that brought Gilas back to within six, 80-74, with 4:43 remaining in the game.

But his efforts were not enough as the Philippines came up short, 95-87, in their first assignment in this year's Asia Cup.

READ MORE | Gilas Pilipinas stumbles vs Chinese Taipei in 2025 FIBA Asia Cup opener

Despite the loss, Gilas head coach Tim Cone tipped his hat to Quiambao for providing life when the team needed it most. 

"Well, he came out and played with a lot of energy, hit some big shots for us but we still came up short," Cone said.

Justin Brownlee carried the offense for Gilas in the first half, collecting 16 points over the first two quarters that was highlighted by a buzzer-beater triple from beyond the halfcourt mark that trimmed Gilas' deficit to 11, 27-16, to end the first period.

But the naturalized forward was forced into limited minutes in the fourth quarter due to foul trouble, setting the stage for the former De La Salle star’s takeover.

With Brownlee fouling out of the game at the 4:31 mark, Chinese Taipei's Robert Hinton sank a pair of freebies to bring Chinese Taipei to another double-digit lead, 88-78, before KQ answered with another long bomb and a jumper to cut the gap to seven with 1:01 to go, 90-83. 

But his and the rest of Gilas' efforts went for naught as Chinese Taipei closed out what had been a dominant game behind veteran sharpshooter Ying-Chun Chen, who fired 34 points on 6-of-8 shooting from downtown. 

"We were playing from our heels so we were trying to rush back into the game and took a lot of ill-advised shots, made a lot if ill-advised fouls," Cone added.

"But in terms of the way Kevin played, Kevin played very very well. He was the highlight of the team."

—JMB, GMA Integrated News