MANILA, Philippines—Dwight Ramos stepped up to the plate when Justin Brownlee couldn’t as Gilas Pilipinas stayed alive for a 2025 Fiba Asia Cup quarterfinals slot.

Gilas defeated Iraq, 66-57, behind Ramos’ hot-shooting to stay in contention.

READ: Gilas Pilipinas fends off Iraq, gets shot at quarterfinals berth

Unusually, though, the Philippines emerged victorious despite an off-night from Brownlee.

“I always try to play off of JB because I already know that for all the teams here, if they’re playing [against us] their focus is on JB,” said Ramos.

“I just take it as an opportunity to use JB’s presence there and play off of him.”

Ramos finished with a game-high 21 points to go along with five rebounds and a steal to lead Gilas’ breakthrough win in Group D after two straight losses to open the tournament.

Brownlee, meanwhile, had his worst game in the competition, finishing with just eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. The longtime Ginebra import struggled from the field, sinking just three of his 12 tries.

READ: Gilas’ Chris Newsome not giving up on Fiba Asia Cup chances

Ramos also made it a point to pick up the slack for Gilas’ slow start when they trailed the Iraqis, 18-12, at the end of the opening period.

“I was just trying to follow the game plan and today when we were struggling a little bit in the first quarter I just thought to myself that maybe I should force it a little bit [more].”

Ramos scored nine points in the first half to keep Gilas in step with Iraq at the half at 33-all.

Up next for the Philippines will be either Jordan or Saudi Arabia.