Despite a late game rally with CJ Perez with the late 2-pointer followed by another shot from downtown by Joshua Munzon, the Filipinos still fell short of claiming a victory at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
HOPES for the Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 squad’s entering the 2021 Tokyo Olympics ended in a 0-4 defeat at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) Friday evening in Graz, Austria.
The Gilas team of Joshua Munzon, CJ Perez, Santi Santillan, Mo Tautuaa, Alvin Pasaol and coach Ronnie Magsanoc needed to win its last two games in Pool C on Friday in order to keep the possibility of qualifying for the Olympics.
However, the 14th-ranked Gilas team fell to No. 18 (Dominican Republic) and No. 6 (France) with 11-22 and 14-15 scores respectively.
Facing No. 11 Qatar, 12-21, and No. 4 Slovenia, 11-21, as their opening matches on Wednesday was not an easy feat as the squad looked overwhelmed on the court.
After their losses on Wednesday, Gilas Pilipinas needed to sweep their remaining two games and hope that Qatar loses its remaining matches to advance to the next round.
Playing without 6-foot-7 Moala Tautuaa, Dominican Republic towered over the 3-man lineup who built an early 14-5 lead and never looked back, as the big man was reportedly injured while on training prior to the match.
Joshua Munzon, the country's top 3x3 player, took over Gilas 3x3 in scoring with eight markers, even scoring his own 5-0 spurt to make it a two possession game, followed up by CJ Perez's two-point effort and Santi Santillan's one marker.
Bryant Piantini led Dominican Republic with eight points and Henry Valdez backed the team with seven points.
Gilas, however, played a better game against France in a low scoring game.
Despite a late game rally with CJ Perez with the late 2-pointer followed by another shot from downtown by Munzon, the Filipinos still fell short of claiming a victory in the tournament.
This is the first time the Philippines failed to notch a win in an international 3x3 competition. (NP)
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