CEBU CITY – Manila Chooks! wasted a solid start and ultimately bowed to Vienna, 20-14, in a deflating start to its Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters 2023 campaign, Saturday at the SM Seaside City here.
Chooks’ flagship team zoomed to an 8-2 lead behind the efforts of big man Tosh Sesay, but could not sustain momentum as their counterparts from Austria showed why they are the fifth-ranked team in the ongoing WT season.
Nico Kaltenbrunner nailed back-to-back deuces to cap off an 11-3 rally to put them ahead, 13-11, before Matthias Linortner and Quincy Diggs came in to contribute to eventually complete the comeback from a tepid start.
Linortner finished with seven points, while Kaltenbrunner produced six points as Vienna grabbed Pool C leadership following the victory.
Enis Murati provided five points spiked by a pair of deuces, while Diggs chipped in two as they now have their sights set on Futian later at 6:20 p.m. for the opportunity to sweep the group and clinch a seat on Sunday’s quarterfinals.
Sesay and Mac Tallo, on the other hand, scored five points apiece to lead Manila in the loss. Marcus Hammonds chipped in four.
Manila will look to bounce back against Futian as well later at 8:20 p.m., hoping to emerge as the second-best team in the pool to reach the knockouts.
Meanwhile, another Filipino team failed to start its stint with a win as Lubao bowed to Miami in a clash of Pool D teams, 22-15, in the fourth game of Day 1.
Coming off a sweep of the qualifying draw, the Pampanga-based crew wanted to push its luck in the main draw, but the Americans were too much. Jimmer Fredette put them to sleep with the game-winning two-pointer with 2:29 left.
Earlier matches saw Ub Huishan NE overcome Wuxi, 21-16, in Pool A, and Amsterdam beating San Juan by way of a 19-12 result in Pool B.
The Scores:
Pool A 1:
Ub 21 – Stojacic 9, Brankovic 5, Majstorovic 4, Dordevic 3.
Wuxi 16 – Wang 7, Mijovic 6, Li 3.Worthy de Jong
Pool B 1:
Amsterdam 19 – de Jong 10, Thelissen 5, Driessen 3, Jaring 1.
San Juan 12 – Ralat 5, Ocasio 4, Cuascut 2, Allende 1.
Pool C 1:
Vienna (20) – Linortner 7, Kaltenbrunner 6, Murati 5, Diggs 2.
Manila Chooks! (14) – Sesay 5, Tallo 5, Hammonds 4, Letcher-Ellis 0.
Pool D 1:
Miami 22 – Fredette 8, Barry 5, Maddox 5, Travis 4.
Lubao 15 – Nzeusseu 6, Blázquez 5, Kujundžić 2, Tumalip 2.
