Dwight Ramos in action as Gilas Pilipinas battles Chinese Taipei in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers in Pasig City on February 25, 2024. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/file 

MANILA (UPDATED) – For Gilas Pilipinas star Dwight Ramos, the national team's victory over World No. 6 and host country Latvia at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament was the "best win" in his career thus far.

Ranked 37th Gilas went on to defy odds and dominated one of the best basketball teams in the globe, 89-80, at the Riga Arena on July 4 (Manila time).

At the sidelines of his fan meet at the One Ayala Mall hosted by Lawson Philippines and his B.League team Levanga Hokkaido on Friday, Ramos reflected on the team's stint at the Olympic qualifiers.

He said they could have won the whole tournament and booked a Paris Games berth.

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"I think the win just was like the best win in my career, that’s what it felt like. I think a lot of people thought we won’t get into the semis but after we lost the game against Brazil, it felt like we should have won the whole tournament so it still felt like a disappointment for us," he said.

The 25-year-old basketball standout also bared how it felt like at the dugout after the Latvia win.

"I mean for me, I was actually like I thought we would gonna be happier but pretty much everybody was like, it's still a tournament, it's just one win. So everyone was happy that we won but it wasn't as happy as I thought. I think everyone was still thinking we could win the tournament."

Ramos also took time to express his gratitude to fans who stayed up late at night to watch Gilas' games.

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"I will just say thank you, even we're playing far away, there's a lot of Filipinos in the stadium, and then of course everybody here is staying up, watching late at night so it just gets you extra motivation when we play," he said.

For Ramos, they overachieved in the tilt despite their short preparation for the overseas tourney.

He also asserted that Gilas' future is "super bright."

"[Gilas' future is] super bright. We still have a bunch of years until the World Cup, and we really only practiced for four days before we left. So four days of practice, we still made it to the semis," he said.

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