Manila Chooks! fought hard but fell in its Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters 2023 opener to reigning FIBA 3×3 World Tour winner Ub Huishan NE, 9-21 (5:06) on Saturday at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati.
The Serbian powerhouse performed like a well-oiled machine from the get-go, racing to a 9-0 start in the first two minutes before The Philippines’ No. 1 3×3 player Mac Tallo broke the ice with a two-pointer.
“Naunahan kami. Ub knows our game very well. They know Mac, so I thought they really took advantage of the familiarity,” Chooks! head trainer Chico Lanete said.
Marko Brankovic, the No. 2 3×3 player in the world, paced Ub with 15 points while veteran Dejan Majstorovic added 5 points for the squad which also took home the Manila Masters crown last year.
Brankovic and Majstorovic joined hands in scoring six straight points for Ub as they pushed themselves up to a commanding 15-2 lead with 6:46 left to play.
“Our concern was our individual defense. We knew Serbia’s players are all capable of shooting from the outside. I told them not to help too much,” Lanete said.
Manila Chooks!’s Sierra Leonean big man Tosh Sesay pulled the home side to within 8-17 with inside baskets, but Ub proved to be too steady towards the end as Majstorovic sank the game-ending layup with 4:54 to spare.
Tallo and Sesay both finished with 3 points each for Manila Chooks! while Philippines No. 3 Dennis Santos and Paul Desiderio added 2 and 1, respectively.
In spite of the loss, Lanete encouraged his troops to remain focused as Manila Chooks! still has a chance of advancing to the quarterfinals.
“It’s good of my players to not give up, even if the lead was already in double-digits. We will use this to adjust for the second game,” Lanete said.
Manila Chooks! will have to beat Utsunomiya BREX EXE of Japan in their 7 p.m. encounter to put itself in a position to qualify for the Last 8.