Philippines shocks Russia, but yields thriller to Canada

BOCAUE, Philippines — Team Philippines stunned third seed Russia, 19-12, behind a torrid two-point shooting but its earlier 19-20 loss to Canada worked against its drive to the knockout round of the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup at the Philippine Arena last night.

Troy Rosario, Stanley Pringle and RR Pogoy combined for eight twinners in their thorough beating of the tall, rugged Russians that somehow made up for their heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Canadians.

Rosario, Pringle, Pogoy and Christian Standhardinger eventually bowed out of contention following a 19-16 win by Mongolia over Brazil later in the night.

Canada and Mongolia finished first and second in Pool C, advancing to the playoff round with three-time champ Serbia, second seed Slovenia, No. 4 Latvia, No. 5 Ukraine, No. 7 Poland and No. 8 the Netherlands.

Pringle and Co. finished third in Pool C with an even 2-2 card.

It’s Serbia versus Mongolia, Latvia opposite Poland, Slovenia against Ukraine and Canada versus the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, Janine Pontejos and David Carlos vie in the Shootout Contest and Slam Dunk finals, respectively, today.

Team Phl came to within a few seconds of upsetting the Canadians but broke down on defense and absorbed a one-point loss.

The Filipinos had an  opportunity to salvage the game in the dying seconds but Pogoy missed a make-or-break twinner that silenced the cheering crowd at the venue and millions more on  watching it on TV.

Pogoy earlier fired back-to-back twinners then nailed two charities to highlight a scorching 8-1 run that pushed the Filipinos ahead at 18-16 with 1:14 left to play.

Then the Filipinos were on top at 18-17 with 35 seconds to go, but the 14th seeded Canadians kept their poise under pressure with main man Michael Linklater taking charge to put his team back in the lead at 20-19 in the last three seconds.

A quick kick-out by Christian Standhardinger to Pogoy gave the Filipinos another chance to pull it off but Pogoy’s failed to connect with a looping jumper.