PH boys absorb bizarre loss to China in FIBA 3x3 tournament
Asian champion the Philippines absorbed two straight setbacks in the second day of the 2013 FIBA 3x3 U18 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, a day after a stunning 3-0 start in Group B play.
Fresh from big victories against Chinese Taipei (13-5), Guatemala (18-9) and Andorra (15-11), the Philippines suffered a bizarre loss against formidable China when all four of its players–Arvin Tolentino, Thirdy Ravena, Kobe Paras and Rashleigh Rivero–fouled out in a highly-physical matchup. The PH boys were actually leading, 13-12, with only eight seconds to go when Tolentino, the last player left, fouled out.
As a result, the game was forfeited in favor of China by a score of 20-0.
The Philippines had previously beaten China in the semifinals of the FIBA Asia 3x3 tournament in Thailand last May en route to winning the gold medal.
"A possible 5-0 record going to the second day of the tournament turned into a nightmare," PH coach John Flores wrote on his Facebook wall. "We beat China 13-12 but lost when Arvin Tolentino our last player on the court fouled out in the last 8 seconds of the game, the game was awarded to China via forfeiture due to disqualification of all players to fouls. Then we lost to a tall and talented Bulgarian team 12-11.
"Philippines was up 10-9 when Bulgaria hit a 2 point shot and a dunk with less than a minute left in the game. That was painful."
Those defeats sent the Nationals down to the third spot and in a three-way tie with Bulgarians and Czech Republic with identical eight markers, two adrift of the pace-setting and unscathed Americans and a solitary point behind the Chinese.
The Philippines got off to a hot start on opening day with those three wins and emerged as one of only five unbeaten teams in this 32-nation tournament organized by FIBA.
"5 teams remain unbeaten going into the second round. Argentina, Germany, Philippines, Poland and USA," Flores said on Facebook at the end of the first day of competitions.
The top four teams in each of the four groups advance to the knockout stages set to begin on Sunday. To give themselves a better chance of making it to the knockout stages, the Philippines needs to carve out a win against either the Czech Republic or the United States on Saturday.
