MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas lived to fight another day in the 2025 Fiba Asia Cup on Saturday night, and it only fueled Justin Brownlee’s drive to keep the Philippines in contention in the continental meet.

After two losses to open the tournament, Gilas notched its breakthrough win over Iraq, 66-57, to secure a spot in the quarterfinals qualification.

READ: Gilas shoots for Fiba Asia Cup quarters berth vs host Saudi Arabia

“It’s great to advance. We’re definitely not satisfied though,” said Brownlee. “We know we have a lot more work to do and we have some tough teams ahead but whatever challenges lie ahead, we’re just ready to take them on.”

Brownlee had his worst performance in the competition against Iraq with only eight points after averaging 28 in the first two games against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand. He fired 37 in a 94-87 loss to the Kiwis last Friday.

The longtime Ginebra import in the PBA tried to atone for his offensive woes by contributing seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

READ: Tim Cone, Gilas ready for tougher trek to Fiba Asia Cup title

Fortunately for Gilas, Dwight Ramos carried the scoring cudgels with a game-high 21 points.

“It’s just a team all-around victory. Dwight (Ramos), he had it going, we kind of fed off his energy that he had in that third and fourth quarter and we just rode it out,” said Brownlee.

“You just got to give a lot of credit to our defense and everybody came into the game ready and really stepped up in a major way on defense.”

Brownlee hopes to get his rhythm back against host Saudi Arabia for a spot in the quarterfinals on Tuesday midnight (Manila time).