Gilas Pilipinas Men and the Macau Black Bears will square off on July 28 at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in preparation for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.
The tune-up match will also serve as a send-off for Gilas Pilipinas before leaving for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Gilas is grouped with New Zealand, Chinese Taipei, and Iraq for the first round of the event scheduled on Aug. 5 to 17.
The Macau Black Bears is composed of locals, mixed heritage players and imports.
“Playing tuneup games before Gilas dives into the FIBA Asia Cup will only help the team out,” Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio said in a press statement on Wednesday.
“While the team gets good competition, it’s also an opportunity for our Gilas fans to band together and send their team off before they fly out to Saudi Arabia. It’s a short preparation window as many of our players saw action in the semifinals of the Philippine Cup, which was another reason why the SBP wanted Gilas to have a tuneup game here.”
The Black Bears have previously played tune-up games against national teams. They beat the Chinese squad, 83-78, last year.
“They beat the Chinese national team. They are really strong. They’ve got good imports. It could be a very interesting friendly for us,” Gilas coach Tim Cone, who steered the Philippine team to a gold medal finish at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, said.
Macau Black Bears, coached by Garrett Kelly, competes in the East Asia Super League. The team known before as Chong Son Kung Fu played in the ASEAN Basketball League from 2017 to 2018.
Gilas Pilipinas, seeking to improve their ninth-place finish in the last edition of the FIBA Asia Cup, will face the Black Bears without Kai Sotto, who is still recovering from his anterior cruciate ligament injury. (PNA)
