CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—VetHealth-Delhi 3BL showed great poise in the crucial moments to take home first place the second leg of the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3 Patriot’s Cup.
The world No. 15 squad needed a game-winner from Kiran Shastri to outlast Phenom-Basilan Steel, 21-20 (3:36), Sunday at SM Fairview Events Center.
“It was a hard fought tournament. Really excited to be here,” said Shastri, the 62nd-ranked player in the world. “It was a good win for us and we’re really proud of the way we played.”
Down, 19-20, with under four minutes left in the game, Bikramjit Gill found a wide-open Shastri for the game-winning deuce.
“Our opponents were great and we just tried to win,” said Shastri, who had eight points in the game.
Basilan drew a fiery performance from Franky Johnson to start the game, as the Fil-American guard scored 12 of its first 16 points for a three-point lead with 5:13 left before the two sides went tit-for-tat in the next two minutes.
A 2-pointer by Roosevelt Adams put Basilan on the hill, 20-19, before Shastri delivered the clincher.
Indian national team member AJ Gill added seven points for VetHealth-Delhi.
Besides bringing home P 100,000, VetHealth-Delhi closed in on Gold’s Gym-Pasig in the standings.
The Kings, who will miss the third leg as they will join the Poitiers Challenger in France from July 6 to 7, remain on top with 170 points.
VetHealth-Delhi and Phenom-Basilan are tied in second with 160 points. Wilkins-Balanga completes the top four with 130 points.
This was the first-ever leg in league history that did not feature either Pasig or Balanga in the finals as the former lost to Basilan, 20-18, while the latter fell to Delhi, 22-15 (1:43).
In the side events, Shastri retained his Coca-Cola Two-point Shootout crown after outlasting Inoza-Gulf Bulacan’s Jan Jamon in the 25-second tiebreaker challenge, 6-5. On the other hand, David Carlos remained as the Coca-Cola Slam Dunk king after stamping his class over Jebb Bulawan and Kenyan dunk artist Obi Fly.
The scores:
VetHealth-Delhi 21 – Shastri 8, Gill A. 7, Gill K 4, Gill I 2.
Phenom-Basilan 20 – Johnson 12, Adams 4, Hammonds 4, Rike 0.