Both Cebu and Manila Chooks dropped their respective openers in the FIBA 3x3 Manila Masters at the Ayala Mall Manila Bay on Saturday, May 28.
Cebu Chooks fell short against top seed team UB Huishan from Serbia, 21-17 in Pool A while the hot-shooting Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy battered Manila Chooks, 22-11 in their Pool D encounter.
Cebu Chooks, bannered by PH top player Mac Tallo along with Zac Huang, Brandon Ramirez and Mike Harry Nzeusseu, held its ground against the top 3x3 players but lost steam in the final minutes as Marko Brankovic and Dejan Majstrovic took over for the Serbian squad.
The Filipinos stood toe-to-toe against the fancied UB team and even took a 14-12 lead behind the back-to-back deuce from Tallo. UB though showed why they are the top 3x3 team in the tournament as Majstrovic and Brankovic took turns in punishing Cebu’s defense to take the victory.
Meanwhile, the Manila Chooks suffered the same fate as Ulaanbaatar came out guns blazing and never looked back en route to a dominant Manila Masters debut.
Delgernyam Davaasambuu and Steve Sir connected from distance as the Mongolians swiftly took a commanding 14-5 lead halfway through the game. Henry Iloko and Chico Lanete tried to carry the Filipinos on their shoulders with consecutive baskets but were just not enough as Sir delivered the game clinching deuce.
Both of the Filipino squads now need to win their respective games to advance to the next round of the tournament. Cebu battles Zavkhan MMC Energy while Manila takes on Zaisan MMC Energy later in the day.