BOCAUE, Bulacan – Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 team failed to sustain its fiery start to suffer a 17-21 defeat to Mongolia in the 2018 FIBA 3X3 World Cup at the Philippine Arena.
Roger Pogoy finished with 6 points for the Philippine squad. Stanley Pringle and Christian Standhardinger added 4 points each while Jeth Troy Rosario had 3.
Gilas had a strong start in the highly physical game Saturday night with an 8-3 lead on back-to-back 2-pointers by Pogoy.
Mongolia answered with its own run to tie the count 10-all before Gilas regained the lead 11-10 on a Pringle layup.
An unsportsmanlike foul by Pogoy sparked Mongolia’s offense as they surged to a 15-12 lead.
This widened to 19-14 before Gilas made a run on outside shots by Pringle and Rosario but a 2-pointer from Mongolia ended the match.
“We had our chances. It was all about knowing how to win in the end,” said Gilas 3×3 head coach Ronnie Magsanoc. “We have to learn quickly. We have to fast-track it so we can be ready by Monday.”
The Philippines and Mongolia are currently knotted at 1-1 in Pool C along with Russia. Canada leads the pack with 2-0 while Brazil is the group’s cellar-dweller with 0-2.
Gilas’ 3×3 team hopes to bounce back from this defeat when it takes on Canada at 4:50 p.m. on Monday before finishing its group match against Russia at 7 p.m./PN
