19th Asiad: Gilas 3×3 falls to Mongolia, finishes 3rd in Pool A
There were no surprises as powerhouse Mongolia beat the Philippine men’s 3×3 basketball team in the 19th Asian Games on Friday, 21-12 (7:37) at the Deqing Geographic Information Park in Hangzhou.
Mongolia scored the game’s first five points then raced to an 11-4 lead inside of the first four minutes to take control in the Games’ 3×3 competition.
Batzaya Tsermaa and Ulzii-Orshikh Myagmarsuren, Mongolia’s No. 18 and No. 8-ranked men’s 3×3 players, led the squad with eight and seven points, respectively.
Justine Sanchez pulled Gilas 3×3 within 16-10 with 3:20 left but the Philippines was never able to bring the margin down from that point.
Mongolia No. 15 Avirmed Lhagvaa sealed the win from the free throw line, making two shots as the Philippines entered penalty situation.
The Philippines was coming off a 21-15 (9:53) victory over Hong Kong last Wednesday, with Bismarck Lina and Janrey Pasaol both scoring seven points each.
Pool A ended with a triple tie from first to third as Gilas 3×3, Chinese Taipei, and Mongolia all wound up with 3-1 slates following Mongolia’s shock 18-16 loss to Taipei.
Owing to its superior points total among games played against each other, Mongolia claimed the top seed in Pool A with Taipei becoming second and the Philippines settling for third.
Mongolia is now in the quarterfinals while the Philippines has to play a crossover knockout game against either Qatar, Kazakhstan, or Thailand from Pool D for the other berth to the final eight.
Written by Levi Joshua Verora Jr.
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