Pinoys on to World Tour 3x3 QF

MANILA, Philippines - Troy Rosario tipped in his own miss with  just a second left last night, giving Manila North a 17-16 win over second seed Ljubljana of Slovenia, and a lot to look forward to in the Manila leg of the 2015 FIBA 3x3 World Tour.

The big crowd that lined up the upper tiers of Robinsons Place in Ermita roared after Rosario, a 6-foot-7 center just coming out of National University, hit the marginal basket.

It proved to be the play of the day as the Manila leg of this world-wide event  with scheduled stops in Prague, Beijing, Lausanne, Mexico and Rio de Janeiro leading to the World Tour final in Abu Dhabi in October got off to a hot start.

Rosario’s tip-in off a failed dunk gave No. 10 Manila North, which also has Calvin Abueva, Vic Manuel and Karl Dehesa in the fold, a 2-0 record and into the quarterfinals of the event that drew a dozen teams, including nine foreign countries.

Manila West, last year’s winner of the Manila leg, lived up to expectations, scraping past Auckland of New Zealand, 21-18, and Manila South, a young team from Cebu, 21-14.

Terrence Romeo carried Manila West, seeded No. 4 here, to victory, hitting the baskets that mattered most.

Top seed and reigning World Tour champion NoviSad of the United Arab Emirates went undefeated as expected, crushing Medan of Indonesia, 21-8, and Longshi of China, 21-16.

Games are played on a running time of 10 minutes or whichever team is first to score 21 points. Each basket earns a point, and from beyond the arc two points. There is no halftime break. Action is fast, exciting and physical.

The top eight teams moved on to the quarterfinals which should begin at 1:45 p.m. today, leading to the semis at four o’clock and the final match at 5:30 p.m.

The winner of this Manila leg wins $10,000 and the adoration of the crowd.

Romeo, a crowd-drawer, who drew ample support from teammates Rey Guevarra, KG Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos, said they can do better than what they showed against Auckland.

“It’s not the way we’re supposed to play. Our succeeding games will be tougher. We still have to adjust,” said Romeo in Filipino.

“We’re fine if we hit our baskets from the outside. Otherwise, we need to attack the basket. We have to work on our help defense, too,” he added.

Making it to the last eight are NoviSad, Auckland, Doha, Ljubljana, Manila North, Kobe of Japan, Manila West and Longshi.

Abueva hit crucial baskets against Ljubljana, including a couple of long and looping two-pointers, the last one giving Manila North a 9-6 lead.

The game was tied at 14, and Ljubljana went ahead at 16-14, silencing the crowd. But Dehesa nailed his own two-pointer to tie the game with only 30 seconds left.

After a couple of misses from both teams, Manila North gained one final possession, and Rosario rose to the occasion.