SOUTH Korea again stood in the way of Gilas Pilipinas.
This time in men’s 3x3 basketball.
The Koreans denied their longtime Asian rival a seat in the semifinals of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup, coming away with a hard-earned 18-15 win in their knockout quarterfinal on Easter Sunday at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
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Represented by members of its U23 team, South Korea took control of the game right off the bat, never allowing the Filipinos to have a taste of the lead, before pouncing on several Gilas turnovers in the endgame to pull off the victory.
The Philippines and South Korea have a long history of basketball rivalry, with the Sokors getting the better end of the Filipinos the past decade.
The loss by the Philippine men’s team left Gilas Women to carry on the fight for the country as it booked a semifinals berth and will meet Japan later in the night.
Donggeun Lee shot 3-of-5 from two-point range to show the way for South Korea. He also grabbed six rebounds and hit a deuce that, along with a drive by Juyeoung Lee, got South Korea going early, 3-0.
Jerrick Ahanmisi, who finished with eight points, tied the game for the last time at 9-9, before South Korea went on a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 edge inside the final three minutes.
The Terrafirma hotshot buried another deuce with 1:11 to play as Gilas made its final stand, 15-16. But the Filipinos fell into a maze of turnovers, which the Sokors took advantage of heading home.
By bowing out, Gilas men’s came short of duplicating the semifinals stint of its 2022 predecessor led by Almond Vosotros and finished fourth during the same edition of the meet in Singapore.
The scores
South Korea (18) – D. Lee 8, J. Lee 5, Ku 4, Kim 1.
Philippines (15) – Ahanmisi 8, Alter 3, Koon 3, Cu 1.
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