Calvin Abueva entertained the huge Filipino crowd, leading the Philippines’ Manila North squad to a narrow victory over Doha of Qatar, 16-14, in the Fiba 3×3 World Tour in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Their backs against the wall following a four-point defeat to Kranj of Slovenia, the Filipinos leaned on the Gilas Pilipinas work horse to avert the ignominy of an early elimination in Pool D and gain a spot in the quarterfinals.
Talk ‘N Text rookie Troy Rosario pushed the Filipinos ahead with a basket, 16-14, in the closing seconds before collapsing in defense on Doha’s scorers to preserve the win.
Abueva finished with seven points, including a corner jumper that gave Manila North a five-point advantage. The crowd roared when he fed a wide-open Vic Manuel underneath for a slam dunk.
Filipino fans mobbed Abueva and his teammates after the game, prompting the organizers to whisk them off to a waiting team SUV outside the venue.
They will next face top-ranked Novi Sad Al Wahda in the quarterfinals early Saturday morning with an old score to settle.
Novi Sad, featuring top 3×3 player Dusan Domovic, won the Fiba 3×3 World Tour in Sendai, Japan, and then mastered Manila North, 21-14, in this year’s Manila Masters at Robinsons Place in Ermita.
Against Kranj, Karl Dehesa was ejected for shoving and Manila North fell behind, 15-7, and never recovered.
All three teams in Pool D wound up with identical 1-1 records but Doha missed advancing for finishing with the lowest score 30 points in two games. Kranj compiled 34 while Manila North tallied 33.