(UPDATED) Terrence Romeo scored 26 points, including 8 when his squad played from behind in the fourth quarter to help Gilas Pilipinas shock China 96-87 in the FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon, on Wednesday.

The Philippines was ahead by as many 17 points at Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex, but turnovers and a lack of execution allowed China to come back in the second half.

Then Romeo came to the rescue.

Down 87-84 with less than 4 minutes in the game, Romeo hit a 3-pointer from a tough angle to tie the game and made a tightly contested 12-footer falling down to put Gilas up 89-87.

Then the GlobalPort point guard sank another triple, two feet from behind the line and and against the oustretched arm of a Chinese defender, to give the Philippines a 92-87 cushion late that was enough to slay the defending champions.

Missing two big men in Andray Blatche and June Mar Fajardo, and losing Calvin Abueva who was ejected in the first quarter, Gilas got ample contribution from both its stars and seldom-used players.

Christian Standhardinger contributed 15 points and 6 rebounds, and Japeth Aguilar 7 points and 5 blocks, as the undersized centers held their own against China's towering frontline.

Jayson Castro chipped in 13 points and 7 assists, while Matthew Wright added 12 points.

Raymond Almazan added 9 points, all in the second quarter when the Philippines went up 50-33.

But China started to find its rhythm from long distance in the second half and, on defense, took advantage of careless ball-handling by the Filipinos to come back and take the lead 87-84.

That's when Romeo single-handedly rallied the Philippines en route to its first win in Pool B.

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