TAINAN CITY – Top Filipino team Cebu Chooks will again go home empty handed after they failed to advance to the playoffs of the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Tainan City Challenger Saturday at Siraya Square. The quartet of Mark Jayven Tallo, Brandon Ramirez, Mike Harry Nzeusseu and Vince Tolentino dropped their two matches for Ninth Place among 16 entries.
The Filipinos failed to sustain their good start versus world number one team Ub Huishan NE of Serbia and eventually bowed, 22-14. Cebu led by as much as four points, 10-6, after a Tallo two-pointer but Ub’s quality was not to be denied.
World number one player Strahinja Stojacic hit his own double which sparked an 8-0 Serbian run from which Cebu never recovered. Stojacic fittingly ended the match at the 2:32 mark with another two-pointer to lead all scorers with 12 points.
Tallo did not score anymore but still paced Cebu with six points, all from long distance. Ramirez added four and Nzeusseu and Tolentino had two each.
Ub then secured the top spot in Group A by beating Utsunomiya Brex of Japan with similar 22-14 score. Cebu and Utsunomiya’s match thus turned into a knockout for the last quarterfinal berth.
Nzeusseu pushed Cebu to the opening 4-0 lead but Utsunomiya fought back behind their two Serbian imports Dusan Popovic and Dusan Samardzic. From the final deadlock of 6-6, the two Dusans went to work and ended the match with four unanswered points for the early ending with 27 seconds remaining.
Samardzic outscored the whole Cebu side with 11 points. Nzeusseu led the losing effort with seven points as his teammates were limited to only a point each.
Up next for Cebu Chooks will be the NEOM Super Quest in Saudi Arabia scheduled for November 4 and 5. Just like the Tainan Challenger, the said event will also serve as a qualifier for the World Tour Hong Kong Masters this November 26 and 27.
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