PASIG Chooks suffered a stinging 22-14 loss to Beijing in its opening assignment in the 2019 Fiba 3x3 Xiong An Challenger Friday in Hebei.
The President's Cup champions weren't able to sustain their early 5-2 start as the Chinese asserted their might in the paint to score 12 unanswered points and grab a 14-5 advantage with 4:50 remaining.
That proved to be a hole too deep to climb from, with Zheng Yi burying the game-icing deuce with eight seconds remaining.
Joshua Munzon led Pasig with eight points, while Dylan Ababou got three in the tough defeat.
Serbian reinforcement Nikola Pavlovic scored a pair, while Troy Rike had one.
The loss sent Pasig Chooks to a must-win situation against world no. 30 The Hague at 9:40 p.m. to at least notch a top two finish in Pool C.
Ju Mingxin paced world no. 17 Beijing with nine points.
The Scores:
BEIJING 22 -- Ju 9, Zheng 5, Li 4, Liu 4.
PASIG 14 -- Munzon 8, Ababou 3, Pavlovic 2, Rike 1.
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