Gab Banal proved his worth, leading Isabela Chooks to an 18-15 triumph over Taikhar, 18-15, to advance to the main draw of the 2019 Hongxiang Holdings Haining, Saturday morning in Zhejiang, China.
With this win and an earlier 21-11 (2:26) victory over Sukhbaatar, Isabela City advance to Pool C. They will take on world no. 8 Gagarin (3:20 pm) and no. 21 Moscow Inanomo (5:05 pm), with the top two teams in the group advancing to the playoffs on Sunday.
And Banal made it possible, even if he has yet to get full rest since Thursday. He had a game in Bacoor last Thursday, before taking an early morning flight to China on Friday. The team immediately held practice in the evening, then had to arrive at the Haining court at 6:00 am – three hours before tip-off.
“Basta para sa bayan, laban lang,” said Isabela’s guest player.
Banal last played competitive 3×3 basketball back in the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup for the Bacoor Strikers. He had nine points in the Haining game, including two deuces.
He led Isabela’s City’s breakaway, scoring five straight points in a 7-0 spurt that turned a tied game into a huge 14-7 lead for the Philippine-based club team with 3:44 left.
The trio of Enkhbaatar Onolbaatar, Otgonjargal Tsogt, and Gansukh Avarzed tried to will their squad back, but big buckets from Marcus Hammonds sealed off any Taikhar comeback attempt.
Hammonds added six points, while Roosevelt Adams had three markers for the three-man Isabela City squad.
Onolbaatar was the high-point man for the Mongolians with seven markers.
The Scores:
Isabela City 18 – Banal 9, Hammonds 6, Adams 3.
Taikhar 15 – Onolbaatar 7, Tsogt 5, Avarzed 3, Battuvshin 0.
