Kiran Shastri scored the winning basket for VetHealth-Delhi 3BL as they claimed the second leg of the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Patriot’s Cup presented by Coca-Cola yesterday at the SM Fairview Events Center, yesterday.
Shastri, the no. 62-ranked player in the world, came into the picture in the last four minutes to lift Vethealt to a 21-20 triumph over Phenom-Basilan Steel.
Behind by two, 19-20, with less than four minutes left in the game, Shastri missed a deuce, which was rebounded by big man and teammate Bikramjit Gill.
Bikramjit then assisted a wide-open Shastri, who knocked down the game-winning deuce in the final 3:36.
“It was a hard fought tournament. Really excited to be here,” said Shastri.
Fil-Am guard Franky Johnson was on fire to start the game, scoring 12 of Phenom-Basilan’s first 16 points to give his side a three-point lead with 5:13 left.
After that, Bikramjit Gill and newcomer AJ Gill powered VetHealth-Delhi to a 5-0 run.
This gave the Indians a two-point cushion.
Besides bringing home P100,000, VetHealth-Delhi closed in on Gold’s Gym-Pasig in the standings.
The Pasig Kings, who will miss the third leg as they will join the Poitiers Challenger in France from July 6 to 7, remain on top with 170 points.
VetHealth-Delhi and Phenom-Basilan are tied at second with 160 points. Wilkins-Balanga completes the top four with 130 points.
This was the first-ever leg in league history that did not feature either Pasig or Balanga in the finals as the former lost to Basilan, 20-18, while the latter fell to Delhi, 22-15 (1:43).