TAKING outside shots in the latter part of the game is something that Team Pilipinas must do in the 2018 FIBA 3×3 World Cup at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
Coach Ronnie Magsanoc said the team of Stanley Pringle Jr., Christian Standhardinger, RR Pogoy and Troy Rosario learned this the hard way after Mongolia relied on late outside shots from Tserenbaatar Enkhtaivan to frustrate the Filipinos in the last two minutes of their game, 21-17.
The lessons learned from that loss in the men’s matches on Day 2 last Saturday will be remembered when the Team Pilipinas plunges into action today against powerhouse squads Canada at 4:50 p.m. and Russia at 7 p.m.
The two games will decide Team Pilipinas’ fate if they will make it to the quarterfinals round.
“We’re still there. We just have to learn how to close it with a two-point (outside) shot. We have to learn quickly,” said Magsanoc.
The 14th-seeded Canadians, led by Steve Sir, are on top of Pool B and they can qualify to the quarterfinals with a win over the Philippines.
And so can the third-seeded Russians, behind sharpshooters Ilya Aleksandrov and Dmitry Koshakov, if they find a way to hurdle the host squad.
The Russians are smarting from a 17-20 upset loss at the hands of Canada last Saturday and are looking for a chance to bounce back. They share the same 1-1 win-loss record with the Philippines and Mongolia.
Second seed Slovenia has reached the quarterfinals after posting a third win in four matches in Pool B following a 21-7 crushing of Indonesia and a 21-15 triumph over Estonia.
Gasper Ovnik led Slovenia with 9 points against Indonesia and 10 points against Estonia.
Poland (2-1), banking on Pawel Pawlowski’s nine points in a 20-16 win over Japan, has also qualified with Slovenia in Pool B on a better quotient over Estonia.
Earlier in the day, Michael Hicks had six points as Poland edged Estonia, 17-13.
In women’s action, Spain reached the quarterfinals after eliminating Perlas Pilipinas, 21-17, with Paula Palomares making 11 points.
Janine Pontejos top-scored for the Filipinas with 13.
They joined top seed China and sixth ranked France, which topped Pool B.
China swept its four-game assignment after dropping Kazakhstan, 15-13, and routing Argentina, 22-4.
France (3-1) prevailed over Kazakhstan, 21-10, and Switzerland, 21-16.