THE Philippines defeated Turkmenistan, 21-14, on Friday night to clinch a quarterfinal berth in the 2017 Fiba 3x3 Under-18 World Cup in Chengdu, China.
The Filipino ballers finished Pool A in second place with a 3-1 win-loss record after earlier beating Poland.
Encho Serrano finished the match with a lay-up as the Philippines made it to the quarterfinals of the Fiba 3x3 Under-18 World Cup for the first time.
The first Fiba 3x3 world tournament was in 2012.
The Philippines faces Pool D top-seed Belguim in the quarterfinals on Sunday.
Juan Gomez de Liano, Encho Serrano, AJ Edu, and Rhayyan Amsali began the day with a 20-14 wire-to-wire victory over Poland.
The Filipinos beat Israel (19-17) in the opener and lost to eventual group topnotcher Netherlands (13-10).
Belgium, seeded No. 12 in the tournament, was a surprise No. 1 seed in Pool D after sweeping the preliminary round, 4-0.
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