Cabañero, Dungo power Pinoy cagers

Nic Cabañero’s hot hands and Doy Dungo’s clutch baskets powered unbeaten Gilas Pilipinas to the quarterfinals of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games men’s 3x3 basketball.

Dungo scored five of the Philippines’ last six points to stave off Kazakhstan’s fightback in a 21-15 victory on Wednesday to close the Pool A play at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue.

Gilas secured an outright spot to the knockout quarters after a perfect 3-0 record in the single round-robin group stage.

The Philippines will face the winner of the play-in round in the Last 8 today at 5:30 p.m.

Cabañero was again at the forefront of the squad’s offensive barrage, scoring seven points, including a perfect 3-of-3 from the foul line, in a highly physical encounter.

The University of Santo Tomas product served as the driving force for the young Gilas troop in the early going of the ballgame.

It was tight from the start until midway through the match, when Dungo finished what his senior started.

Gilas was only up by a hair, 15-14, with 2:23 left when Dungo stepped up big time with a series of crucial plays.

The De La Salle University star scored on a drive before swatting away a Kazakh attempt; he then followed his defensive gem with a two-pointer for an 18-14 Gilas lead, forcing the opponents to call time.

Dungo again drove hard for another basket before Luis Pablo pushed Gilas to the hilt, 20-14.

Kazakhstan stopped the bleeding, but Dungo iced the game with a foul shot with 33 seconds left.

Dungo finished with six points on 4-of-7 field goal shooting while Pablo and Koji Buenaflor added five and three markers, respectively, for Gilas, which also beat Mongolia and Sri Lanka.

Kazakhstan, which was led by Timur Tangiyev’s six points and eight rebounds, was relegated to the play-in round after closing the round with a 1-2 mark.

Mongolia, also relegated to the play-in stage, finished No. 2 in the group with a 2-1 slate.