The game-winning three of Gilas Pilipinas hero SJ Belangel that beat South Korea in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers caught the attention of SportsCenter, the popular sports news program of ESPN in the United States.
Belangel’s three-pointer to secure an 81-78 victory Wednesday, July 16 at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Pampanga made it to SportsCenter’s top plays, one of the regular segments of the show.
Neil Everett, one of the anchors of the show, was impressed that he compared the degree of difficulty to a current NBA star.
“That was Durant-esque,” Everett said, referring to Brooklyn Nets super scorer Kevin Durant.
The shot was also featured in the same segment during the late edition of SportsCenter, this with Everett’s partner Stan Verrett making mention of Manny Pacquiao.
“I’m sure somewhere, Manny Pacquiao went nuts,” said Verrett.
The shot is one of a rare few that made it into the SportsCenter segment, which features the day's 10 best plays from mostly the top leagues in the US.
Among those were the delayed reaction of Mick Pennisi a ball was deliberately thrown to his head in a 2012 PBA game and Gabe Norwood’s dunk over Luis Scola during Gilas’ match against Argentina in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.