The Gilas Pilipinas men’s and women’s teams advanced to the knockout stage in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup in Singapore on Saturday, April 4.
The men’s team pulled off a crucial victory over Chinese Taipei to catch the last bus to the quarters while the women’s team leaned on its first win over Tonga to also reach the playoffs.
Jerrick Ahanmisi caught fire from deep and drilled four deuces to spearhead the Nationals to a 21-13 victory against Chinese Taipei.
Ahanmisi finished with 11 points including the game-sealing basket off a Ralph Cu miss. Cu added three points and six rebounds as Gilas bounced back from the close loss to Mongolia, 19-21.
On the distaff side, meanwhile, the Filipinas’ 19-11 victory of Tonga proved to be enough to reach the quarters even after dropping a 21-10 decision against Australia.
The men’s team take on Pool C’s top seed, South Korea, in the quarterfinals on Sunday at 4:35 p.m while the women’s team will face Mongolia, which went undefeated with a 2-0 record in Pool B.