GILAS Pilipinas 3×3 fell short of an outright quarterfinal place after falling to Mongolia, 21-12, at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Friday.
This was the final game of the group stage in the men’s 3×3 basketball competition at the Deqing Geographic Information Park Basketball Court, and it broke Gilas’ winning streak.
Mongolia jumped out to a 7-1 lead early in the game, thanks to 5 points from Batzaya Tsermaa. As a result, Gilas was caught struggling to find a method to recover and reduce the gap.
Mongolia was led by Tsermaa, who scored eight points, and Ulzii-Orshikh Myagmarsuren, who scored seven points in the overwhelming victory over the national squad.
Bismarck Lina, the Philippine team’s big man, led the way with seven points. Bryan Sajonia and John Rey Pasaol, who are usually big scorers, just had two. Justine Sanchez only had one in the loss.
Gilas 3×3 finished the group stage with a 3-1 record, the same as Mongolia and Chinese Taipei. But it lost the tiebreaker after scoring only 63 points in four games.
Mongolia took first place with a total of 75 points, followed by Chinese Taipei in second place with 73 points.
Despite their defeat, Gilas remains in the running for a position in the quarterfinals on Saturday. It could meet the winner of Pool D, either Qatar or Kazakhstan.
Gilas Pilipinas Women’s Team
On the brighter side, the Gilas Women continue to dominate at the 19th Asian Games.
The Philippine women’s basketball team defeated Hong Kong 99-63 at the Shaoxing Olympic Sports Centre to maintain their unbeaten record in the preliminary round.
Janine Pontejos, Afril Bernardino, and Jack Danielle Animam helped Gilas Women advance to 2-0 in Group B, boosting their chances of reaching the quadrennial meet’s quarterfinals.
On October 1, the Gilas Women will conclude their preliminary campaign against Japan.
#Puso #LabanPilipinas
