New addition Paul Desiderio promptly made an impact as Manila Chooks! downed Bayangol Broncos of Mongolia 21-18 on Saturday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA 3×3 Ulaanbaatar Super Quest at the Royal 3×3 Lounge in Ub Palace, Mongolia.
Desiderio, a former University of the Philippines star, shone for the Filipino 3×3 cagers with seven points, while CJ Payawal also chipped in with seven.
The Philippines’ number one 3×3 player Mac Tallo and Brandon Ramirez also had four and three points, respectively, as the troops of head trainer Chico Lanete forged a Last 8 tiff with fancied world number 9 Sansar MMC Energy of Mongolia today, Sunday, at 4:30 p.m. at the same venue.
Manila Chooks! wound up with a 1-1 mark after bowing to Utsunomiya BREX, 22-10, to open the group stage of the FIBA level 8 tourney has a $15,000 prize for the champion, $10,000 for the runner-up, and $5,000 for the third-place finisher.
With their sights now trained on hurdling a tough task, Lanete admitted he expects his players to have their hands full against a powerhouse Mongolian quartet, bannered by gunner and 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Most Spectacular Player Anand Ariunbold.
“We’re expecting a difficult game today especially since maglalaro si Anand (Ariunbold). Sharpshooter talaga siya and the whole team plays better kapag nasa floor siya,” Lanete said. “Kaya we need to focus on defending him better or possibly denying him the ball. We’ll make the necessary adjustments and be ready for the game.”
“In our two games, lumabas ang potential namin as a team. Pero kulang pa kasi we all know we can do better,” Tallo said. “All we have to do now is to be consistent.”
The top two teams after the tournament will also book slots to the World Tour Manila Masters next month.
Fans can watch the games live on Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas’ Facebook page and the YouTube channel of FIBA 3×3.
