Gilas stuns Brazil to open Fiba 3×3 World Cup campaign

Stanley Pringle. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

BOCAUE, Bulacan—The Philippines pulled off a stunner against Brazil, 15-7, to open its bid in the men’s division of the Fiba 3×3 World Cup Saturday at Philippine Arena.

Gilas, the no. 57 federation in the world in 3×3 rankings, momentarily zoomed to top spot of Pool C while Brazil, the world no. 8, slid to 0-1.

Stanley Pringle, Roger Pogoy and Troy Rosario unleashed four points apiece while Christian Standhardinger, who dealt with injury just a few days before the start of the tournament, added three.

“All we wanted was to be competitive and stay with our opponents so we can have a chance in the end but our players were able to jump the gun on Brazil,” said Gilas head coach Ronnie Magsanoc in Filipino.

“I think it gave us a good buffer when everybody got tired because you will really get tired in this situation. And this is a very good start for the team.”

The Philippines were off and firing immediately,  building a 11-2 lead behind Pogoy’s outside shooting and Pringle’s slashing.

Pogoy scored on two consecutive long balls that gave Gilas a 6-1 lead then Pringle had three separate occasions to embarrass Carlos Silva Jr.

Pringle first blew past Silva for the layup that put Gilas up 10-2 then he denied the Brazilian’s jumper with a block.

And Pringle followed up his defensive stop with another driving layup against Silva for the 11-2 lead.

In the earlier games, world no.1 Serbia jumped to the top spot of Pool A after its 21-17 victory over the Netherlands, no.7 in the world.

The Dutch split their games after brushing aside Kyrgyzstan 22-7 before its matchup against the Croatians.

Kyrgyzstan is also at 1-1 in Pool A after scoring a 20-18 win over Romania, which also has a 1-1 card after defeating New Zealand, 16-12.

The Kiwis are at 0-1 in Pool A.