Gilas complete sweep in Asiad Men's 3x3 pool play

c/o POC/PSC Media

Gilas Pilipinas Men 3x3 completed a flawless group stage campaign to barge into the quarterfinals of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, fending off Kazakhstan, 21-15, on Wednesday at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue in Japan.

With the victory -- the Filipinos' third straight counting wins against Asian No. 1 Mongolia (19-12) and Sri Lanka (21-12) -- Gilas finished on top of Pool A, officially securing their spot in the quarters.

Composed of La Salle's Luis Pablo and Doy Dungo, Santo Tomas' Koji Buenaflor and Binan Tatak Gel's Nic Cabanero, the team will take on Chinese Taipei at 5:30 p.m. (Philippine time) on Thursday.

"Nandito na," said coach Patrick Fran, pointing to his bag containing the scouting report and video materials on the Taiwanese. "Ready na."

Kazakhstan caught the Philippines—supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission—napping early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead powered by a two-pointer from Timur Tangiyev.

But Gilas quickly regained control behind a strong putback from Buenaflor, highlighted earlier by an emphatic two-handed slam, and a timely two-pointer from Cabañero to construct a 13-9 lead.

Although Kazakhstan pulled within one at 13-12 following a basket by Artur Junussov, Gilas responded with a key 8-3 closing run to seal the win with 33 seconds remaining.

The late surge was spearheaded by collegiate teammates Pablo and Dungo, who erupted with five of Gilas' final eight points, finishing the contest with six points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Cabañero again anchored the scoring with seven points, three rebounds, and an assist, an impressive feat considering he was nursing a sprained, swollen right hand he suffered during Gilas' game against Mongolia on Monday.

Pablo provided five points, while Buenaflor contributed three points to round out the balanced attack.

Timur Tangiyev led Kazakhstan with six points and eight rebounds as his squad fell to 1-2 in group play.

Mansur Seilkhanov contributed four points, with Junussov and Alizhan Ydyryszhan adding three and two points, respectively.