Romeo dazzles in Manila West win over Auckland in Fiba 3×3

Terrence Romeo drives to the hoop. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Globalport guard Terrence Romeo dazzled and Manila West got the Philippines’ bid going with a 21-18 win over Auckland in the opening day of the FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters at Robinson’s Place Manila.

The crowd-favorite Romeo was unguardable with his quickness and basketball wizardry while teammates Rey Guevarra of the Meralco, KG Canaleta and Aldrech Ramos of NLEX also had their moments for defending champion Manila West.

Romeo, the PBA’s Most Improved Player, though, wasn’t pleased with the team’s overall performance and expressed the need to improve as the competition got tougher.

“We’re just getting started and that’s not how we should play as we go along,” said Romeo in Filipino. “We have to play better in our coming games because our opponents will be bigger and quicker.”

The 23-year-old Romeo got the packed crowd inside the mall on the edge of their seats with his dribbling skills and shot making. His hang time move off a crossover dribble gave Manila West a 16-8 cushion with under three minutes left.

And when the New Zealand squad made a final push with a flurry of outside conversions, Romeo also delivered the game-clinching basket with 21.8 seconds to spare.

Manila West will return to action later at 6:45 p.m. against Manila South, a team composed of the winners of Talk ’N Text Tatluhan U18 national championship in Cebu.

Romeo has been having a busy offseason after being called up to be part of the Gilas Pilipinas pool. KS