MANILA, Philippines – New Zealand dashed Gilas Pilipinas Men’s gold medal dream hopes at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup after a dominant 21-13 beatdown in Singapore on Sunday, July 10.
Nikau McCullough sparked the Kiwis’ breakaway with 8 points off a 3-of-6 barrage from two-point range, highlighted by a rainbow deuce that heralded doom with 6:34 still left for the 11-5 gap.
Jayden Bezzant, Dominique Kelman-Poto, and Zach Easthope then took turns bullying the smaller Filipinos in the post to keep comfortable distance until the endgame.
One last McCullough free throw off a Joseph Eriobu unsportsmanlike foul then sealed the deal with 3:40 remaining, and formally booted Gilas down to the third place game later in the day at 7:45 pm.
Veteran sniper Almond Vosotros led the offense anew with 8 points off a 2-of-6 deuce clip as no one else scored more than 2.
He was coming fresh off another 8-point outing – capped by a stunning game-winning deuce – over top-seeded Mongolia in a nail-biting 21-20 escape in their knockout quarterfinal match. – Rappler.com
