Gilas Pilipinas finished unscathed in men’s 3×3 group stage of basketball after foiling Kazakhstan, 21-15, on Wednesday in the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games at the Kinjo Futo Station Square.
With a 3-0 record-they stunned Asia’s No. 1 Mongolia, 19-12, and beat Sri Lanka, 21-12-the Filipinos topped Group A for a spot in the quarterfinals.
De La Salle’s Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo, University of Santo Tomas’s Koji Buenaflor and Binan Tatak Gel’s Nic Cabanero will take on Chinese Taipei at 5:30 p.m. (Manila time) on Thursday.
‘It’s all here,’ said coach Patrick Fran, pointing to his bag containing the scouting report and video materials on the Taiwanese. ‘We’re ready.’
Kazakhstan caught the Philippines-supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission-napping early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead powered by a two-pointer from Timur Tangiyev.
But Gilas quickly regained control behind a strong putback from Buenaflor, highlighted earlier by an emphatic two-handed slam, and a timely two-pointer from Cabañero to construct a 13-9 lead.
Although Kazakhstan pulled within one at 13-12 following a basket by Artur Junussov, Gilas responded with a key 8-3 closing run to seal the win with 33 seconds remaining.
The late surge was spearheaded by collegiate teammates Pablo and Dungo, who erupted with five of Gilas’ final eight points, finishing the contest with six points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Cabañero again anchored the scoring with seven points, three rebounds, and an assist, an impressive feat considering he was nursing a sprained, swollen right hand he suffered during Gilas’ game against Mongolia on Monday.
Pablo provided five points, while Buenaflor contributed three points to round out the balanced attack.
Timur Tangiyev led Kazakhstan with six points and eight rebounds as his squad fell to 1-2 in group play. Mansur Seilkhanov contributed four points, with Junussov and Alizhan Ydyryszhan adding three and two points, respectively.