At halftime of the Hangzhou Asian Games men's 5x5 basketball semifinal between Philippines and China -- with the scoreboard reading 48-30 in favor of the hosts -- the mood in the Gilas Pilipinas locker room was somber.
Some were already resigned to the stark reality that their campaign for the gold would end in a blowout loss -- and history was certainly against Gilas.
China had never lost the men's basketball gold medal on home soil, while the Philippines hadn't reached the gold medal match in 33 years.
"To tell you the truth," June Mar Fajardo narrated in Tagalog, "We were already feeling down at halftime because they were up big."
While Fajardo and some of his teammates were despondent, veteran guard Chris Ross took it upon himself to rally the troops.
Ross had hardly played in the tournament, but he commanded huge respect from his peers and often acted as an additional assistant coach for Tim Cone.
"At halftime, I just told the guys that I still believe. I believed in the team," said Ross.
"I told them, 'Go out there and give it your all.' Before the China game, I looked at each and every one of them in their face and I told them, 'We're gonna need legendary performances from everybody.'
"And I told them again at halftime. I said 'We're gonna need to be legendary.' And that's what everyone did. Whoever got out there, and whoever didn't get out there, everyone was legendary."
What happened next was indeed legendary.
Led by Justin Brownlee's clutch 3-point shooting, including the go-ahead triple with 23 seconds left, Gilas mounted a comeback for the ages to stun China 77-76 and barge into the gold medal round.
"That was exactly what we needed to beat that China team because they had the crowd behind them, and they felt that they probably could beat us because we didn't have Jordan (Clarkson)," Ross said. "But we got JB (Brownlee). It was a legendary performance."
Even Fajardo was shocked by the turn of events, admitting: "We didn't expect that. When Justin hit those shots, our energy just went up.
"It's one of the highlights of my stint with Gilas, that game. I'll always carry it in my heart."
But while Brownlee's performance on the court was epic, Ross' actions off of it were equally valuable.
"For me, whether I'm playing 48 minutes in the PBA or 40 in FIBA (competition), I'm goning to be myself," he said. "I'm gonna tell guys what I see.
"Being one of the 'vets' on the team -- actually all of them called me 'kuya' (big brother) -- they listened to me. And I was just letting guys know what I saw.
"Even 'New' (Chris Newsome) would come up to me. 'Chris, what do you see? If you see anything, let me know.' I would tell Scottie (Thompson) the same thing. I would give guys my pointers.
"I'm gonna be that leader that I've always been, whether I'm playing the whole game or whether I'm playing no minutes. That was one thing I would tell the team. Whether you're out there for 40 minutes or whether you get out there for one second, you give it your all."
Gilas would go on to capture the gold medal, beating Jordan by ten points in the decider to bring home Philippines' first gold in men's basketball in 61 years.
This time, they got a huge lift from their other naturalized player, Ange Kouame, who finally came through after a series of shaky performances in earlier games.
"He stepped up big-time," Fajardo noted. "He was a big factor for the team. He's the future of Gilas."
For Ross, the gold medal was the culmination of a wild ride that began with a phone call from Gilas team manager Alfrancis Chua, who asked him if he wanted to join the team as a late replacement.
"It's surreal," he admitted. "Just knowing the journey that it was, I was talking to Arvin (Tolentino) just the other day. We were texting, and we were like, it's just God that had us there because we weren't in the original 12.
"Just being one of the four guys that replaced the other four guys and then going through the journey that we went through, from getting to Inspire (Academy) a little bit late and then doing two-a-days.
"The journey we were on in China and the ups and downs we were on out there, to finally come home with the gold medal, it's a surreal feeling, man.
"It's been 61 years. When we won the championship, it felt like a celebration worth 61 years. We just all kind of wished we could have been here in the Philippines to celebrate with everybody.
"Now the time's here and hopefully we can get the group together and kind of celebrate with everybody."
Thompson admitted he's still on an Asian Games high, even with the new PBA season just around the corner.
"It's still there," he said. "It's hard to move on from that kind of success. Personally, I find it easier to move on from down times. With success, it lingers longer."
On Oct. 25, ten members of Gilas (Kouame and Brownlee are out of the country) joined the other Asian Games medalists in a recognition ceremony with President Bongbong Marcos. They were the last medalists introduced.
Later, they were all smiles when it was announced that the government was rewarding all of them with one million pesos each.
There's no doubt they would have played even without the promise of a monetary reward, and the million pesos is merely a bonus from a grateful nation.
What can't be quantified is the bond the 12 players will always share, especially those among them who set aside their professional rivalries to pursue a common goal.
"It's almost like a storybook thing," Ross said. "It's a really good feeling, but not just with the San Miguel (Beermen) guys but all these guys. We're all in the PBA so it's a fraternity.
"We're co-workers, we're brothers and we're competing against each other every night in and every night out. It's different when we come in and put that Philippines across our chest and we're all battling for one common thing.
"It's a good thing to do that with guys that you always compete against. It's such a cool thing."