Photo credit: PBA

Gilas Pilipinas has locked in its final 12-man lineup for this weekend’s opening window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers — and two fresh faces are officially joining the fight.

RJ Abarrientos and Quentin Millora-Brown have cracked the roster, marking their first time suiting up for the national team in a major international tournament under coach Tim Cone. Both impressed during the week-long training camp, which included a three-day lock-in at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna.

The two newcomers will suit up alongside familiar Gilas pillars: Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, June Mar Fajardo, Kevin Quiambao, Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez, and naturalized star Justin Brownlee.

That means Jamie Malonzo, Troy Rosario, and Juan Gomez de Liaño didn’t make the final cut from the original 18-man pool submitted to FIBA.

“These are the 12 we’re going to war with, and we’re really proud to have them,” Cone said during the roster reveal at The Upper Deck Sports Center in Ortigas.

All members of the final team attended the sendoff event organized by ArenaPlus with Cignal and the SBP. Also present were SBP executive director Erika Dy, program director Alfrancis Chua, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial, and TGXI president Jasper Vicencio.

Marcial shared that the PBA leadership recently met with Cone, Chua, and SBP president Ricky Vargas to reaffirm full support for the Gilas program.

“The PBA is 100 percent behind Gilas and the SBP. We’re here for them,” Marcial said.

With back-to-back games against Guam up next, Cone emphasized that the team understands the stakes, especially since Gilas shares Group A with basketball giants Australia and New Zealand.

“We’re not taking anything for granted. We’re putting our best foot forward on Friday,” Cone added.

Gilas leaves for Guam on Tuesday night. The first game is set for Friday at 5 p.m. (Manila time) at the University of Guam Calvo Field House.