Manila Chooks! ekes out berth into the Cebu Masters knockout rounds

Manila Chooks! star Mac Tallo basks in the glory of winning, while leaving Futian's Dimeo van der Horst with the feeling of the agony of defeat.

Fifteen months of frustration finally ended on Saturday night, as Manila Chooks! secured a berth to the knockout rounds of a 3x3 World Tour Masters.

Mac Tallo sent his hometown crowd at the SM Seaside City Cebu into a frenzy by nailing a game-winning two-pointer with 99 seconds remaining, as they defeated Futian, 21-17 at the 2023 Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters.

He shared to the media afterwards, "Siyempre ginawa namin ang lahat. Ang mentality namin mula kaninang umaga mag-cramps na tayo, kahit ma-injure tayo ibuhos na natin lahat kasi we never, I think it's been a year na hindi kami nakapasok ng Day 2 ng mga tournaments."

Tallo adds, "At ito na iyon, finally, nakapasok na kami. Hopefully, iyong momentum namin sa last game, madala namin bukas."

The top-ranked Filipino 3x3 baller scored nine points, with Marcus Hammonds adding five of his own. The remaining duo of Tosh Sesay and Marquez Letcher-Ellis combined for the remaining seven points.

With the win in the books to balance out their 14-20 defeat to Vienna, they earned a second-place finish in Pool C, good enough to make it into the quarterfinals, where a matchup against Ub awaits at 4pm.

The Serbs and likely title favorites lead the cast of quarterfinal participants. The Manila leg champions dispatched Wuxi, 21-16 and survived Sansar, 21-19. The Chinese side beat the Mongolians, 21-12 to finish second in Pool A.

Amsterdam topped Pool B with its wins against San Juan, 19-12, and Paris, 21-18. The Puerto Ricans clawed out a 21-19 win over the French to secure second spot.

Vienna managed to top Pool C by pairing their win over Manila with a 21-13 win over Futian.

The last two tickets were formally issued to Miami and Ulaanbaatar, with the Americans topping the Pool after a 22-15 triumph over Lubao and a 21-18 win over the Mongol quartet. Ulaanbaatar would outlast the other local side, 21-17 to cap off Day 1 action.

Highlighting the Saturday activities was a performance by rock band Sponge Cola for the Opening Ceremonies.

The Ub-Manila Chooks! matchup kicks off Day 2 action at 4pm, followed by Miami-San Juan at 425pm. Amsterdam-Ulaanbaatar is slated at 5pm, with the Vienna-Wuxi matchup concluding quarterfinal action at 525pm.

Semifinals are scheduled at 610pm and 635pm, with the championship to be decided at 730pm.

Aside from basketball, the shootout finals will take place at 550pm, with title favorite Steve Sir leading the four-man field that includes Tallo.

In addition, a dunk contest will also take place at 7pm, led by Filipino fan favorite David Carlos.