BOCAUE - Fil-Am PBA players Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle got away with a triumphant debut in 3-on-3 international play.
Standhardinger and Pringle, in a team-up with 3-on-3 veterans and fellow PBA stars Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy, pulled the rug from under No. 6 seed Brazil, 15-7, in their initial outing in the FIBA 3x3 World Cup at the Philippine Arena here Saturday.
They blew what could have been a two-game sweep in the day as they suffered a 17-21 loss to Mongolia.
Nonetheless, Standhardinger, Pringle, Rosario and Pogoy thrilled the cheering home fans that braved the stormy Saturday, especially in their coast-to-coast triumph over Brazilians William Evangelista, Marcellus Sarmento, Carlos Silva and Luiz Felipe Soriani.
With their versatile plays, the Filipinos raced to an early 8-1 lead and were hardly threatened on the way to the comfortable eight-point triumph.
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They also got off to a strong start in their next game but failed to ward off the Mongolians' endgame charge.
It's a highly physical match were the Filipinos were called two crucial unsportsmanlike fouls. And they paid dearly for it.
The Mongolians uncorked a closing 6-3 in pouncing on the unsportsmanlike infractions committed by Rosario and Pogoy.
Canada scored a two-game sweep while the Philippines, Russia and Mongolia all settled for a 1-1 split in first day of action in Pool C.
Team Phl enjoyed a well-balanced offense with Pringle, Pogoy and Rosario firing four points each and Standhardinger adding three versus Brazil. Against Mongolia, Pringle top scored with six while Pogoy, Rosario and Standhardinger contributed four, four and three, respectively.(SB)
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