MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas men’s 3x3 team ran out of steam and absorbed a 14-11 loss against wildcard squad Iran in a rough start in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup yesterday in Singapore.
The fourth-seeded Nationals took control early and built an 11-7 lead inside the last two minutes only to get blanked the rest of the way in this Pool D preliminary action.
Gilas was to shoot for a much-needed win against No. 5 Qatar last night with hopes of gaining a favorable margin as only the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockout quarterfinals.
Brandon Bates and Almond Vosotros led Gilas with five and four markers, respectively. Jorey Napoles had two points and eight boards.