MANILA – The Philippine 3×3 team opened its campaign in the 2018 FIBA Under-23 3×3 Basketball World Cup with losses to Slovenia and Serbia in Xi’an, China.
Ricci Rivero, Rhayyan Amsali, RJ Abarrientos, and Jeepy Faundo faltered to Slovenia 14-21 in the Pool C elimination round matches.
Despite a 7-point output from Rivero on Wednesday night, the Philippines failed to keep in step with Slovenia, which was in a must-win situation at the time after a shock 19-21 loss to Turkmenistan earlier in the day.
The Ronnie Magsanoc-mentored Philippine team failed to sustain its strong start against world No. 1 Serbia to suffer a heartbreaking 16-21 defeat.
After leading early in the game, the Philippines suddenly fell to a 7-18 hole against Serbia. Abarrientos anchored the Filipinos’ run to come to within 16-19 but a 2-pointer from Marko Milanovic sealed the win for the opponent.
Abarrientos led the way with 6 points while Rivero added 5 markers for the Philippines, which is now in a must-win situation in its final two games Friday night against Turkmenistan and China.
Only the top two teams from the four pools will advance to the playoff round./PN
