Close call

The Netherlands’ Jacobine Klerx splits the Filipinos’ triple team. —Sherwin Vardeleon

BOCAUE, Bulacan—The Philippines flirted with a massive upset, but ended up firing blanks in a frenetic endgame, yielding to Germany, 12-10, Friday night in the women’s division of the Fiba 3×3 World Cup at Philippine Arena here.

It was the second straight defeat for the Filipino women in the tournament, putting their hopes of reaching the knockout round in their maiden appearance in the world stage in peril.

National U star Afril Bernardino kept the PH side within striking distance with an array of drives and short jumpers against the 11th seed Germans, before Gemma Miranda put the home team to within a single point, 11-10, with under two minutes remaining.

But Miranda’s bank shot turned out to be the final basket for the Filipinos in a wild finish that saw them miss four two-point attempts, three of which came from Janine Pontejos.

Pontejos, a standout from Centro Escolar University, made six two-pointers in a 21-11 loss to fourth seed The Netherlands in the ladies’ World Cup debut.

“Maybe this was first-time jitters for everybody,” said PH coach Patrick Aquino. “Having a tournament like this, sometimes you get jittery, sometimes you can’t do the things you set out to do.”

The Dutch hit eight two-point shots against the Filipinos, who also struggled to cope with the physicality of the 3×3 game, committing seven fouls.

“Experience-wise, we lack that poise,” said Aquino. “When the opponent’s shots are going in, sometimes, you lose focus. You lose momentum and everything. So I hope we change those things and get back on Monday.”

The race for quarterfinal spots in Pool D remained wide open, however, with Spain leading the way with a 2-0 card, while Hungary, Germany and Netherlands are all tied with 1-1 records.

The men’s team gets going on Saturday and coach Ronnie Magsanoc has assembled a squad that has quickness, shooting, strength and versatility as it battles the world’s best in the 20-nation tournament.

Cleared to play after the swelling on his left knee subsided, Christian Standhardinger leads a squad armed with a fleet-footed guard in Stanley Pringle, an ace sniper in Roger Pogoy and a lanky and athletic big man in Troy Rosario.

“We’re out here to compete,” said Magsanoc on the eve of their debut against Brazil (3:10 p.m.) and Mongolia (6:40 p.m.) in Pool C.