Munzon eruptions not enough as Manila Chooks gets swept in Doha

Manila Chooks TM bowed out of the 2020 FIBA 3×3 Doha Masters in disappointing fashion following a sweep loss in the elimination round in Qatar on Friday, November 20 ( Saturday, November 21, Philippine time).

Despite two spirited Joshua Munzon scoring rallies, Chooks got eliminated from contention after falling short against top-ranked Liman Serbia, 15-22, and home team Lusail Qatar, 14-19.

Still, Manila started on a high note after giving the top-ranked 3×3 team in the world a legitimate scare in the first game.

After starting out with an early 7-point lead, 9-2, Liman got on the receiving end of a Munzon deuce party as the country’s top 3×3 player dropped 3 long bombs to get as close as one, 13-14, with 4:18 left.

However, Liman banked on its size as 6-foot-6 bangers Mihailo Vasic and Stefan Kojic got multiple easy layups on the hapless Chooks defense.

Chooks head trainer Stefan Stojacic then capped off the 8-2 run with a dagger deuce at the 2:22 mark for the 22-15 win.

Munzon got the lion’s share of offense for his team with a game-high 9 points while Kojic and Vasic chipped in 7 markers apiece in the win.

It was the same story for Manila in the second game as they again went down big, 1-5, against Lusail.

However, Santi Santillan and Alvin Pasaol conspired to tie it up at 5-all before Munzon briefly took the lead for Chooks, 7-6, off a contested deuce.

Munzon got Manila within a point, 9-10, off a one-legged two-pointer, but Qatari big man Souley Ndour shut the door on any comeback hopes with 5 straight points in a game-sealing 7-1 run for the 17-10 lead.

Munzon then dropped 3 straight points in garbage time before raising his arms in frustration near the end of the sorry loss. He once again led the team with 8 points, while Santillan and Pasaol had 3 and 2 markers, respectively.

Ndour breached double-digit scoring with 10 points as Lusail clinched a quarterfinals berth.

The Scores

First Game:

Liman 22 – Kojic 7, Vasic 7, Ratkov 4, Stojacic 4.

Manila 15 – Munzon 9, Pasaol 4, Rike 1, Santillan 1.

Second Game:

Lusail 19 – Ndour 10, Vasileiadis 7, Mbow 2, Maher 0.

Manila 14 – Munzon 8, Santillan 3, Pasaol 2, Rike 1.

– Rappler.com