Manila Chooks! staged several comebacks attempts against world No. 3 Riga of Latvia and No. 19 Warsaw of Poland fell short, bowing out of the 2022 FIBA 3×3 NEOM Super Quest, Friday evening (Manila time) at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Still, it was a brave stand for the quartet of Dennis Santos, Ken Holmqvist, Henry Iloka, and Dave Ando, who were playing together for the first time.
Against reigning Summer Olympics champion Riga, Dennis Santos rallied Manila from a 6-16 deficit with 2:33 left, cutting the lead to a solitary point, 19-18. However, time was not on the side of the Filipinos.
In the second game, Manila Chooks! lost to Warsaw, 21-16 (6:47).
World no. 4 Nauris Miezis led Riga with eight points and four rebounds while Karlis Lasmanis added seven markers.
PH No. 5 Santos finished the game with nine points built on four deuces while Iloka added seven markers. Holmqvist also got two points and five rebounds.
Again, Manila trailed early, falling behind 11-3 as Przemyslaw Zamojski caught fire, knocking down four deuces in the first seven minutes of the game.
The troika of Iloka, Santos, and Ando did not go down easily, slicing the lead to three, 19-16, with 3:43 left.
Zamojski though did not cool down, knocking down the game-winning deuce to seal their ticket to the next round.
