Seen as a perennial contender, Gilas Pilipinas Women 3×3 crashed out of the medal race in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games after suffering a stunning 19-21 defeat to Malaysia on Wednesday at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Entering the fourth edition of the biennial meet’s 3×3 competition, the Filipina dribblers aimed to bounce back from their runner-up finish in 2023 with a roster featuring former UAAP standouts Jhaz Joson, Tantoy Ferrer, Kaye Pingol, and Mikka Cacho.
But after going winless in a tough three-team Group A composed of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, Gilas Women — for the second time in four SEA Games tournaments — will miss the podium in the women’s 3×3 event.
Gilas previously ruled the inaugural 2019 edition held on home soil, failed to podium in 2021, then settled for silver in 2023.
Tied at 16-all against Malaysia, the Philippines briefly seized momentum after a Pingol free throw and a Ferrer inside finish pushed them ahead, 18-16, with 1:23 left.
However, Malaysia capitalized on the Filipinas’ size disadvantage, burying a game-tying two-pointer before sinking back-to-back layups to take a 20-18 lead with 37 seconds remaining.
Gilas Women still had multiple chances to force a comeback, but Cacho missed wide-open layups on consecutive possessions. Pingol could only split her free throws afterwards.
Malaysia then sealed the upset with a hit from the free throw line.
Earlier in the day, Gilas Women stumbled out of the gate against Indonesia and could not recover, absorbing a 15-21 loss that derailed their momentum for the remainder of the tournament.
Ferrer managed to tie the game at 14-all with two free throws at the 2:54 mark, but Indonesia responded with a decisive 7-1 finishing kick to put the game away.
