Pasig Chooks bow out of Doha Masters, fall to Riga

Pasig Chooks could not replicate the success of Balanga against Riga Ghetto yesterday, falling to the no. 3 squad in the world, 21-15, to bow out of the 2019 FIBA 3X3 World Tour Masters in Doha, Friday.

Unlike their dominant Pool A showing Thursday evening that saw the reigning Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup champion blast Katara 21-14 and eke out a 19-16 win over Liman, Pasig was simply out of sync in this contest.

With the game knotted at 13-all, Pasig could not stop the inside game of Riga. Arturs Streinkis sparked a quick 4-0 spurt capped by a Karlis Lasmanis deuce.

Moreover, Pasig was already in the penalty situation with 3:04 still on the clock.

Joshua Munzon and Taylor Statham could not find the bucket late as Agnis Cavars, Lasmanis, and Nauris Miezis all took turns in exposing Pasig’s defense.

With Riga just one away from sealing the game, Statham fouled Cavars with 26.8 seconds left. The Serbian calmly sunk his free throw to boot out the first of two Philippine teams in the quarterfinals.

The loss wasted Frenchman Angelo Tsagarakis’ five-point outing, a point more than his total output during pool play.

Munzon and Statham finished with five markers each.

Lasmanis led Riga with seven points.

The 2019 Wuxi Challenger champion takes on Piran in the semifinals.

Balanga Chooks will take on top team in the world Liman at 11:15pm (Manila time).

The Scores:

Pasig Chooks 15 — Munzon 5, Statham 5, Tsagarakis 5, Pavlovic 0.

Riga Ghetto 21 — Lasmanis 7, Cavars 5, Strelnieks 5, Miezis 4.