BOCAUE, Bulacan — The Philippines closed its Fiba 3x3 World Cup campaign on a high note, pulling off a 19-12 rout of third-ranked Russia on Monday at the Philippine Arena.
Just hours after one-point heartbreak at the hands of Canada, the home team redeemed themselves with a lopsided win thanks to the dazzling play of Stanley Pringle, outside shooting of Troy Rosario and RR Pogoy, and the hustle plays of Christian Standhardinger.
The Pinoy 3x3 squad ended its campaign with a respectable 2-2 record, but it wasn't enough to secure a spot in the knockout rounds to be played on Tuesday at the Philippine Arena.
Still, the win brought a smile back on the faces of Pinoy fans who were disappointed to see the Philippines blow a two-point lead late in a 20-19 loss to Canada that took them out of playoff contention.
The Philippines finished the preliminaries in third place in Pool C, behind unbeaten Canada and Mongolia who clinched the two quarterfinals berths in the group.
But the Pinoy squad, at least, finished with a flourish.
Pringle's on-ball wizardry led to lay-ups for a 5-1 lead. Rosario and Pogoy then joined the scoring show, hitting two-pointers to open a 14-3 lead for the hosts.
Pringle finished with nine points while Rosario added eight points. The two combined for seven two-pointers in the final preliminary match of the tournament.
The scores:
Philippines 19 – Pringle 9, Rosario 8, Pogoy 2, Standhardinger 0.
Russia 12 – Pavlenko 6, Korshakov 4, Alexandrov 1, Dybovskii 1.
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