GILAS Pilipinas men's 3x3 team suffered back-to-back losses and failed to advance in the knockout stage of the FIBA Asia Cup Saturday at the Singapore Sports Hub.
The Filipinos went down against three-time champion Australia, 21-13, and then couldn't get their game going against Japan in a 22-12 loss to fail to reach the knockout round for the second straight year.
The 10th seeded Aussie and no. 3 seed Japan booked births in Saturday's quarterfinals after emerging as the top 2 teams in Pool C.
The 0-2 record failed to duplicate the semifinals stint of Gilas 3x3 during the 2022 edition of the tournament when it stunned powerhouse Mongolia in the knockout stage, 21-20, behind the late-game heroics of Almond Vosotros.
The Filipinos, coached by multi-titled champion Mau Belen, actually had the Aussies on tight rope entering the final five minutes as Joseph Sedurifa knotted the count at 13-13 on a two-pointer.
Sponsored content: But veteran Todd Blanchfield scored seven of the Aussies' final eight points in an 8-0 blast to clinch the victory in the tightly-fought game.
Against Japan, Gilas trailed all the way and never recovered to formally down tumble in the tournament. (RG)
