Gilas young guns face Kiwis today

MANILA, Philippines — What it lacks in manpower, size and experience, Gilas Pilipinas intends to make up for with heart, grit and determination as it battles undefeated New Zealand today in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in Auckland.

Coach Nenad Vucinic said the 11-man team of mostly young guns has embraced its herculean task of going toe-to-toe with the Tall Blacks in the 7:30 p.m. road game at the Event Finda Stadium (3:30 p.m. in Manila).

“We’ve got a young team here and it’s up to them to prove that they can play at that level and that they can play important games like this,” said Vucinic ahead of the Nationals’ (1-1) return match with Group A pacesetter New Zealand (3-0), which dealt them an 88-63 drubbing in the second window in Manila last February.

Without injured naturalized player Ange Kouame and PBA stalwarts, Vucinic is banking on Kiefer Ravena, Dwight Ramos, RJ Abarrientos, SJ Belangel, Geo Chiu Dave Ildefonso, Francis Lopez, Will Navarro, Carl Tamayo, Rhenz Abando and Kevin Quiambao to carry the fight against New Zealand as well as India (0-3) on Sunday over at the MOA Arena.