By El Amigo
MANILA — The Philippines moved closer to a double basketball medal at the Asian Games as both its Gilas Pilipinas 3×3 men’s and women’s teams advanced to the semifinals late Thursday.
The men’s squad survived a pressure-packed quarterfinal against defending champion Chinese Taipei, escaping with a 21-19 victory to keep its gold-medal hopes alive.
Nic Cabañero delivered eight points despite nursing an injury to his right shooting hand, while Manuel Pablo contributed six points and six rebounds. David Dungo added five points and three rebounds, and Koji Buenaflor provided a strong presence underneath with 10 rebounds.
The women’s team took a more comfortable route to the last four, overpowering Singapore, 22-12.
Kennan Ka and Amyah Espanol each scored seven points to pace the Filipinas. Ka also produced nine rebounds and five assists, while Espanol added four rebounds and two assists.
The twin semifinal appearances gave Philippine basketball a major boost on a day that also saw Carlos Yulo break the country’s gold-medal drought in Aichi-Nagoya.
Yulo captured the men’s floor exercise title with 14.666 points, giving the Philippines its first gold of the Games.
With both Gilas 3×3 teams now one victory away from the gold-medal match, the Philippines heads into the decisive stage of the competition with two more chances to fight for Asiad basketball gold.
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