Cebu Chooks advanced to the knockout stages of the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Penang Challenger after booting out rival Zavkhan MMC Energy of Mongolia, 18-15, Saturday at Queensbay Mall in Malaysia.
Mac Tallo top-scored with 12 points on five long twos as Cebu dealt Zavkhan its second loss in Pool A.
“It’s a good start for our Cebu team and for Coach Chico (Lanete). They showed great heart in overcoming a slow start against their archrivals,” Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas said.
Zavkhan raced to a 5-0 start to start the game before Cebu was able to knot things up at 8-all. From there, Mac Tallo took charge.
The country’s top 3×3 player buried five deuces in the contest to keep Zavkhan at bay. Brandon Ramirez and Zach Huang added four and two points, respectively.
Avirmed Lhagvaa paced Zavkhan with six points. Cebu would later lose to powerhouse Liman Huishan NE of Serbia, 9-21.
The Filipinos will face Princeton of the United States in the quarterfinals.
The FIBA 3×3 Penang Challenger is a qualifier for the 2022 FIBA 3×3 World Tour Paris Masters. It also has a US$ 40,000 prize pool.
Contributed photo
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