Gilas men, women advance to 3x3 semis in Asian Beach Games

MANILA, April 29 ------ The Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 teams kept their medal bids alive after both the men’s and women’s squads advanced to the semifinals of the 6th Asian Beach Games at the Sanya Sports Centre Gymnasium.

The men’s team eked out an 18-14 victory over India, leaning on a late 5-0 run to pull through after surrendering an 11-8 lead. Jeff Manday sparked the decisive stretch, scoring the game-tying basket to make it 14-all with 22 seconds left. Crucial foul calls on Aldous Torculas and Manday then sent the Filipinos to the line, where they converted in the final seconds. Torculas knocked down key free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining to give Gilas a 16-14 cushion, before Manday iced the game from the stripe. “Although underdog kami, lumaban kami hanggang dulo. Thankful ako sa teammates ko… nagtatrabaho para sa bayan,” said Manday.

Gilas will face Thailand in the semifinals on Wednesday at the same venue. The women’s team also advanced after defeating Kazakhstan, 16-11, in their quarterfinal matchup. Relying on speed against a taller opponent, the Filipinas repeatedly attacked the basket to offset Kazakhstan’s outside shooting. After the Kazakhs closed in at 11-12 midway through the contest, Gilas responded with a strong finishing kick.

Tantoy Ferrer delivered a crucial basket with under two minutes left to extend the lead to 14-11, before Mikka Cacho scored back-to-back points to seal the win. “Iyon nga, sa scouting report namin, more on outside shooting sila at mas malalaki sa amin,” said Ferrer. “Alam naman namin na kahit mas maliliit kami, mas mabilis kami.”

Source: news.abs-cbn.com