GILAS Pilipinas men's 3x3 fell short of its golden quest in the 31st Southeast Asian Games but will come home with a bronze medal Saturday at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium in Vietnam.
The Philippine crew of Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, Jorey Napoles, Reymar Caduyac and Marvin Hayes suffered a stinging loss to Thailand in the semifinals, 17-21, to bomb out of the title picture.
The quartet, members of PBA 3x3 First Conference champion Limitless App, made sure it wouldn't return empty-handed and took care of business in the battle of third against Indonesia, 14-10.
The Filipino raced to a 12-5 running start then fended off the late rally sparked by Indonesia's Muhammad Aziz Sandy with Napoles' fire-extinguishing basket and Caduyac's insurance free throw, to seal a consolation podium finish.
Rosser, a prospective top pick in Sunday's PBA Rookie Draft, shot five in the bronze-clincher while Caduyac and Napoles added four apiece and Hayes scored one on a putback.
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After posting a 2-1 win-loss record in the initial skirmishes Friday, Gilas had a roller-coaster stint in the final day.
The Pinoy ballers started Saturday action with back-to-back victories over Singapore, 21-16, and Malaysia, 20-14, but sputtered to a 14-21 defeat to host Vietnam in front of a partisan home crowd to finish the elims with 4-2 and No. 2 behind the Vietnamese (5-1).
Third-ranked Thailand took the cue from Vietnam and gave the defending champions the boot with their four-point upset in the Final Four.
Riding on the hot hands of Frederick Lee John Lish and Antonio Price, the Thais seized a 16-13 lead against the Filipinos.
Rosser's dunk and layup made it a one-point contest before Chanatip Jukrawan led a counter that got Thailand on the hill, 20-15. The Philippines would go on to cut the deficit to 17-20 before Price drove the final nail from the stripe, ending the reign the PBA stalwarts CJ Perez, Mo Tautuaa, Jason Perkins and Chris Newsome established in 2019 in Manila. (OL)
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