Dwight Ramos and Gilas go through another NZ heartache

Dwight Ramos (right) and the Filipinos will try to pick themselves up for their match against Australia. —FIBA PHOTO

Yet again, New Zealand was a problem for Dwight Ramos.

On Friday at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand, the Tall Blacks dealt Gilas Pilipinas and Ramos another heartbreak after a 106-102 double overtime decision in the 2027 Fiba (international basketball federation) World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

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“I’ve been playing against them since 2021, [almost] every year so its always been tough,” Ramos said after the Philippines’ nail-biting loss.

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“I think the reason is that they’re so physical; they pressure the ball and they make it hard for us to get into our offense. Their rebounding is also tough and I think that’s what they pride themselves in.”

Ramos officially joined Gilas back in 2020. Since then, the Philippines and New Zealand have butted heads seven times.

Ramos and company have only won one out of their seven outings against the Tall Blacks, and that was two years ago during the Asia Cup Qualifiers.

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The Levanga Hokkaido import has since dropped his last three head-to-heads with New Zealand, including the most recent heartbreaker.

Ramos poured everythingin the defeat, finishing with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal before fouling out late in the first extra period.

Still, New Zealand, like clockwork, broke Ramos’ heart anew and the latter had no choice but to tip his hat to the Kiwis.

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“We were right there though. They (NZ) just got a couple more plays down the stretch and got it done.”

The Philippines look to return to the win column of the Asian Qualifiers when they take on Australia in Perth on Monday at 6:30 pm (Manila time).

The Philippines certainly looked like it could pull off an upset.

Gilas Pilipinas was ahead by seven in the fourth and led by two late in the first overtime after a triple from Juan Gomez de Liano.

The Filipinos then went up by four late in the second extra session but just could not close things out.

The Philippines fell to 2-3 (win-loss) in Group A.

“The fact that we got as close as we did, obviously it’s a huge disappointment,” said national coach Tim Cone. “What could feel that it’s in your grasp, but we let it slip away and it makes it tough. We had a chance in regulation and in both overtimes to win that basketball game, we just came up short.”

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Gomez de Liano and Kevin Quiambao turned in 23 points each for the Philippines, while Carl Tamayo chipped in 17 points and four rebounds. INQ