MANILA, Philippines – After a sorry opening day, the Philippines finally barged into the winning column of the 2018 FIBA 3×3 U-23 World Cup.

Despite being ranked 19th out of the 20 participating teams, the Nationals stamped their class against world No. 14 Turkmenistan, 21-8, in Group C in Xi’an, China on Friday, October 5. 

RJ Abarrientos, nephew of PBA great Johnny Abarrientos, paced the Philippines with 8 points while UP Fighting Maroons’ Ricci Rivero added 6 points in the romp. 

The Filipinos were previously the only winless team in Group C following back-to-back losses to No. 1 Serbia and No. 5 Slovenia but they have already eclipsed Turkmenistan (1-2) in the standings by virtue of more points scored. 

In order to have a shot at a quarterfinal berth, the Philippines needs to win against group No. 1 and world No. 5 China (2-0) in its final elimination round game at 8:40 pm on Friday. – Rappler.com