Gilas Pilipinas couldn’t sustain the momentum from its colossal upset of top seed Mongolia in the quarterfinals, dropping consecutive games against New Zealand and China to settle for fourth place in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup on Sunday, July 10, at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The Filipinos put up a gallant stand against the fancied Tall Blacks and Chinese squad in the semifinals and in the battle for third, respectively, to score their best finish in the continental showpiece.
After completing a pulsating 21-20 victory over world No. 3 Mongolia, Gilas lost steam in the semifinals as the Kiwis proved to be a tough nut to crack, using their size inside the paint against the Filipinos to score a 21-13 victory.
Vosotros was the lone bright spot with eight points for the PH team. Nikkau McCullough feasted against Gilas defense with eight points while Jayden Bezzant added five.
Gilas showed better resolve in its rematch against China in the battle-for-third but the crew still came up short in endgame, 20-18. The Filipinos just couldn’t find the bottom of the net in the final possession, allowing the Chinese to come away with the victory.
Unlike in the group stage where Gilas struggled against China's great wall, Vosotros and Eriobu had themselves a game with eight and five points, respectively. Zeyi Liu however did enough to keep Gilas at bay with nine points while Jiaren Zhao added six.