THE Philippines missed out on a quarterfinals berth in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup as it suffered a second straight loss on Friday night at the hands of Qatar, 21-18, at the Singapore Sports Hub OCBC Square.
The Filipinos rallied from a 15-8 deficit to tie the game at 18-all with 39 seconds to play on a driving layup by Jorey Napoles.
But Souley Ndour scored the last three baskets including the game-clinching free throw to tow the Qataris to the knockout stage.
The 6-foot-8 Ndour led the fifth-seeded Qataris, considered a power in 3x3 basketball, with 13 points and eight rebounds, while 18-year-old Mohammed Abbasher added five and Nedim Muslic with three.
Almond Vosotros finished with nine points in a losing cause for Gilas, which earlier suffered a 14-11 loss to Iran in Pool D.
Samboy De Leon had five points, Jorey Napoles added three and Brandon Bates scored a point for the Philippines, which couldn’t duplicate its fourth-place finish from last year’s staging of the meet.
Earlier, Iran clinched the top seed in the pool by beating Qatar, 21-19, to enter the quarterfinals with five straight victories.
The Iranians completed a three-game sweep of their assignments in the qualifier to earn a berth in the main draw.
The scores
Qatar (21) – Ndour 13, Abbasher 5, Muslic 3.
Philippines (18) – Vosotros 9, De Leon 5, Napoles 3, Bates 1.
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