Manila Chooks was denied a place in the FIBA 3x3 Manila Masters after suffering a 21-16 loss to Zaisan MMC Energy in the semifinals of the Super Quest held Saturday, May 7 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Chico Lanete, Dennis Santos, Henry Iloka and Ron Dennison couldn’t continue their dream run as the Mongolian side needed five minutes to beat Manila at the UB Arena.
A win would have given the team a spot in the Manila Masters later this month.
The defeat came after Manila won two of three games in thrilling fashion during pool play before stunning Japanese squad Yokohama in the quarterfinals.
In that contest, Manila took a 21-20 win as Lanete drained the clinching two-pointer with 1:38 to go in the match.
Meanwhile, Cebu couldn’t replicate last week’s title run in the Sta. Rosa, Laguna Super Quest after suffering a 20-17 loss to Mongolia’s Zavkhan in the quarters.
Mac Tallo, Zach Huang, Brandon Ramirez and Mike Nzeusseu went 1-2 in pool play before being shown the door by Zavkhan.
Cebu is already assured a spot in the Manila Masters slated May 28 to 29 due to the aforementioned championship run last week.