Two legs have been held so far in the fledgling Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 President’s Cup, but it looks like a rivalry has already been forged.
After meeting in the opening tour’s Finals last February 16, the 1Bataan Risers and the Pasig Grindhouse Kings met again in the championship round of the second leg, Sunday at the SM Megamall.
But unlike their first clash, the Kings reigned victorious with a 21-18 win. They survived a tough challenge by the Risers that even saw Sean Manganti come back and play after spraining his ankle.
Sweet revenge, indeed.
“After losing last week in the championship game, it was a good comeback for us,” said Joshua Munzon, who led Pasig with eight points, including the game-sealing deuce.
Munzon, however, isn’t sold that Pasig and Bataan can be called rivals – yet.
“I don’t know, man. I don’t know,” said the 24-year-old forward from California, smiling. “They’re a tough team. It’s becoming maybe a little rivalry, but there’s a lot of good teams.
“It’s tough to just point out one good team when anybody can take it in a week.”
After the second leg, both Pasig and Bataan now share the top spot of the standings with 190 points. And for Munzon, his Kings will continue to stay hungry even with the triumph.
“Just to keep working, stay hungry, not get satisfied and continue to make that push,” said the former ASEAN Basketball League Heritage Import.
“We wanna win it all. [We have to] keep grinding it out.”
