In his first tour of duty with the Philippine Men’s National Basketball Team, Filipino-American Stanley Pringle felt right at home, as he dazzled in Gilas 3X3’s 15-7 win over Brazil, Saturday afternoon at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.
“All we wanted was to be competitive and stay with our opponents para may tsansa tayo sa dulo but our players were able to jump the gun on Brazil,” said head coach Ronnie Magsanoc. “I think it gave us a good buffer when everybody got tired dahil talagang mapapagod ka eh.”
Pringle finished the game with four points – including the last two points of the hosts to put the brakes on Brazil.
It was a dominant showing by the Filipinos, who led early in the contest, 8-1, behind the overpowering tandem of Christian Standhardinger and Troy Rosario and the sniping of Roger Pogoy.
Pringle then took charge afterwards, putting everyone on the Philippine team on the board with 6:35 remaining.
Struggling with the inbounding rules of the 3×3 game, Pringle was slapped with two technical fouls that led to free throws for Mercellus Sarmento.
The TNT tandem of Pogoy and Rosario had four points each as well while Standhardinger chipped in three markers.
Sarmento had four points for Brazil.
“I think that’s a very good start for the team. Hopefully once again, when Mongolia comes in at around 6, the boys will be ready once again to compete until the end,” Magsanoc hoped.
The Philippines will next face Mongolia at 6:40pm.
The Scores:
PHI 15 — Pogoy 4, Pringle 4, Rosario 4, Standhardinger 3.
BRA 7 — Sarmento 4, Soriani 2, Evangelista 1, Silva 0.
