Undermanned Nueva Ecija sweeps President's Cup Pool Play

Juan Gomez de Liano's debut in Chooks 3x3 cut short with an ankle injury.

Nueva Ecija dug deep to come out on top of Pool D to close out group stage action at the first leg of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 President's Cup powered by TM.

The Rice Vanguards were reduced to play two-on-three after Juan Gomez de Liano sprained his right ankle after landing on the foot of Chris Lalata with 5:15 left in the game. The guard sat out the rest of the game and is expected to miss out on the remainder of action today inside the bubble at the INSPIRE Sports Academy.

They then lost Mac Sabelina after the big man was ejected for his second unsportsmanlike foul just over a minute later.

With back-to-back two-point shots from Anton Asistio to establish a 19-17 lead, Jai Reyes and Gab Banal buckled down to work.

A Reyes free throw halved the deficit, then Banal secured an offensive rebound after missing an outside jumper, scoring a putback and drew an and-two opportunity from Alfred Batino. The MPBL Datu Cup MVP converted the foul shots to clinch the win.

Banal shares, "Got nothing to lose. We only had two players but I don't know if that's even possible? That might be the first time in 3x3 history."

With Juan's availability for the knockout rounds now in question, he adds, "If Juan can't play, that's a big loss for is. Ganiyan ang Nueva Ecija but the whole Chooks team. Hindi tayo magpapatalo."

Completing their sweeps in pool play are Zamboanga City and Butuan, with the former in Pool A escaping with a 22-19 win over Sarangani in 7:17, while the latter in Pool B took care of business with a 21-13 win over Pasig in just over seven minutes.

Munzon led the way for Zamboanga City with nine points, while Franky Johnson nailed five two-point shots for Butuan.

Completing pool play in the first leg is Porac's 21-14 win over Bicol. James Laput netted five points in the victory.

The knockout rounds are already underway with the champions of this leg netting PhP 100,000.