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| It may just be a silver, but for Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 Women, it's considered "golden". SBP |
MANILA--It may not have had the perfect ending, but it was still mission accomplished for Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 Women.
Gilas made the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup podium for the first time after securing the silver during the conclusion of Playoff Sunday in Singapore.
While Australia repeated over them in the championship match, it was Gilas' semifinal shocker against Japan that was heard around the Asia-Pacific region more.
Down by three with two minutes left and just one outside shot away from being brought down to the bronze medal game, Gilas turned to its discipline down the stretch to steal the win from Japan.
Aware that they have the size advantage, Cheska Apag, after clearing the ball outside the two-point line, quickly found Kacey Dela Rosa for the reverse layup that cut Japan's lead to two, 17-19.
Dela Rosa then returned the favor to Apag as she initiated a give-and-go play to set up the latter's game-tying deuce with 1:36 to play.
Miku Takahashi was quick to charge her way inside to pick up her own miss from way beyond the arc, but Apag stripped the ball away from her to slow things down.
Afril Bernardino rewarded Apag's efforts by giving her a chance to close it out with another two when they got the ball back, but the latter's long bomb went way over the rim.
Luckily for Bernardino, she picked up the offensive rebound and found an open lane for a layup that put Gilas to within match point.
Ayu Tsurumi, who was scoreless all game long, tried her luck from long range, but her supposed game-winner rimmed out, and Bernardino found Dela Rosa inside for the dagger that sealed the 21-19 win with 47.4 seconds to spare.
In the final, Australia raced to a 6-0 lead and was on track to finish Gilas quicker than its 21-10 domination in the pool stages.
However, Gilas, despite the size disadvantage, showed grit and even came close to bringing Australia to the first penalty situation.
The Filipinas also drew to within five points at various moments mid-game before back-to-back twos from Kristy Wallace and Amy Atwell virtually sealed the Opals' sixth championship in the continental tournament.
Gilas, though, still showed great defense that nearly stuck Australia to 16 in the end before Atwell converted another deuce late in the contest.
Back-to-back easy layups by Apag capped the offense for both teams as Gilas, despite losing 9-18, somehow managed to finish the final strong.
Wallace was named the MVP of the tournament, while Bernardino joined her in the Mythical Three alongside China's Zhang Zhiting.
China, which came one point shy of dethroning Australia in the semifinals, secured the bronze by beating Japan in a 22-20 nailbiter.
