BALANGA Chooks suffered a 21-20 loss to world No. 2 Liman to open its campaign in the 2019 Fiba 3x3 World Tour Hongxiang Holdings Haining Challenger on Saturday in Zhejiang, China.
Stefan Stojacic, the 5th-ranked 3x3 player in the world, buried the game-winning deuce with 13.2 seconds left to stun the Filipino crew.
It was a tough defeat for Balanga Chooks, which got 10 points from Alvin Pasaol.
Travis Franklin added six points, as Karl Dehesa chipped in three, but their potential winners failed to find their mark in the final minute, opening up the window for Stojacic to steal the win for Liman.
Balanga Chooks now finds itself in a must-win situation against Sosnovy Bor of Russia at 4:15 p.m. to have a chance to progress in Pool A.
Mihailo Vasic paced Liman with seven points as Stojacic and Stefan Kojic had five in the win.
The scores:
Liman 21 - Vasic 7, Stojacic 5, Kojic 5, Kovacevic 4.
Balanga 20 - Pasaol 10, Franklin 6, Dehesa 3, De Chavez 1.
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