Phl boys suffer blows in FIBA 3x3, U-16 championship

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines' two teams suffered painful losses that slowed down their respective campaigns in the third FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championship in Tehran, Iran and the 2013 FIBA 3x3 U-18 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday.

The Nationals got buried by a barrage of three-pointers from the Taiwanese and absorbed a stinging 90-95 defeat for their first loss of the tournament after surviving the Kazakhs, 90-88, the day before.

After hurdling their first day assignments Chinese Taipei, Guatemala and Andorra, the 3x3 squad of Thirdy Ravena, Arvin Tolentino, Prince Rivero and Kobe Paras ran into a taller, bigger China and absorbed an embarrassing 0-20 beating.

The Filipinos then fell to the Bulgarians hours later in a gripping 11-12 defeat that sent it into a three-way logjam at third place with their conquerors and Czech Republic on identical 3-2 (win-loss) records.

The Phl, coached by John Flores, hopes to make it to the next round with just a win either against defending champion USA, the tournament favorite with an unblemished 5-0 card, or Czech Republic in today's final day of the group stages to advance to the playoff stage.

Over in Iran, the Phl seeks to bounce back from its recent loss with a win over Jordan in a game being played at press time.

The Filipinos, mentored by Jamike Jarin, are running at joint third with the Jordanians on 1-1 slate in Group F of the second round. The Japanese and the Taiwanese lead the group with pristine 2-0 marks.

The Phl's last two assignments are Japan today and winless India (0-2) tomorrow.