Gilas Pilipinas Men’s 3×3 team survived an early scare from Kazakhstan to escape with a 21-15 win. The victory capped a flawless group stage run and punched their ticket into the Asian Games quarterfinals.

The Filipinos finished atop Pool A after also beating Asian No. 1 Mongolia, 19-12, and Sri Lanka, 21-12. Wednesday’s win came at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue in Japan during the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

The squad is composed of La Salle’s Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo, University of Santo Tomas’ Koji Buenaflor, and Binan Tatak Gel’s Nic Cabañero. Gilas will face Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals at 5:30 p.m. Philippine time on Thursday.

“Nandito na,” said coach Patrick Fran, pointing to his bag containing the scouting report and video materials on the Taiwanese. “Ready na.”

Gilas Overcomes Kazakhstan’s Early Push for Perfect Group Stage

Kazakhstan caught the Philippines napping early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead powered by a two-pointer from Timur Tangiyev. Gilas is backed by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission in the continental meet.

Gilas quickly regained control behind a strong putback from Buenaflor, highlighted earlier by an emphatic two-handed slam. A timely two-pointer from Cabañero helped the Filipinos build a 13-9 cushion.

Kazakhstan pulled within one at 13-12 after a basket from Artur Junussov, but Gilas answered with a key 8-3 closing run. The Filipinos sealed the win with 33 seconds still left on the clock.

Cabañero, Collegiate Duo Power Gilas’ Closing Run

The late surge was spearheaded by collegiate teammates Pablo and Dungo, who combined for five of Gilas’ final eight points. Dungo finished the contest with six points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Cabañero again anchored the scoring with seven points, three rebounds, and an assist — an impressive feat considering he was nursing a sprained, swollen right hand suffered during Gilas’ game against Mongolia on Monday.

Pablo provided five points, while Buenaflor added three to round out a balanced Gilas attack. All four scorers played a hand in the group stage sweep.

Tangiyev led Kazakhstan with six points and eight rebounds as his squad fell to 1-2 in group play. Mansur Seilkhanov added four points, while Junussov and Alizhan Ydyryszhan chipped in three and two, respectively.