THE Philippines’ top two 3×3 teams — Cebu Chooks and Manila Chooks — put up a brave stand before dropping their matches against foreign rivals in the 2022 Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 Manila Masters at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.

First to bite the dust was Cebu Chooks, which dropped a 17-21 decision to Ub of Serbia despite another strong game by Mac Tallo.

Later, Manila Chooks bowed to Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, 11-22.

Tallo, the Philippines’ top-ranked 3×3 player, was his usual dominant self as he scored 11 points for Cebu Chooks.

He wowed the crowd throughout, including making one that saw him send the defense on the floor following a dribbling showcase to put the Filipinos ahead, 14-12, with 3:59 remaining.

But Serbia, the world’s No. 1 team, wisely used its experience to turn the game around.

Veteran Dejan Majstorovic strung up three quick points to make it 15-14 with 3:20 left.

Marko Brankovic then hit two free throws to extend the lead to three points, 17-14.

Tallo and Mike Harry Nzeusseu tried to keep the game close and interesting but Majstorovic proved unstoppable.

Majstorovic, a member of the disbanded Novi Sad crew, led Ub with 12 points.

It was almost the same story in the Ulaanbaatar-Manila showdown.

The Mongolians took control behind the hot-shooting of Canadian Steve Sir, who scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

Sir, native of Edmonton , opened the match with a 3-0 lead on the way to a 15-5 advantage.

Manila Chooks failed to recover from there.

Dulguun Enkhbat added seven points. Delgernyam Davaasambuu had three points, and Otgonjargal Tsogot had one for the Mongolian team.

Henry Iloka led Manila Chooks with five points and four rebounds, followed by Dennis Santos with four and Chico Lanete with two.

In other games, world no. 2 Antwerp outplayed qualifying draw winner Melbourne, 19-15, in Pool B action while world no. 3 Liman downed Gurugram, 21-16 in Pool C.

Tournament organizers said only the top two teams in each of the four pools will advance to the quarterfinals of this FIBA 3×3 tournament which offers $122,000 (P6,375,415) prize pool with $40,000 (P2,090,300) going to the champion.

The scores:

Pool A Game 1:

Ub (21) – Majstorovic 12, Brankovic 5, Barac 4, Stojacic 0.
Cebu (17) – Tallo 11, Nzeusseu 5, Ramirez 1, Huang 0.
Time: Majstorovic (8:53)

Pool B Game 1:

Antwerp (19) – Bogaerts 7, Vervoort 6, Celis 4, Augustijnen 2.
Melbourne (15) – Hire 6, Wagstaff 5, Steel 2, Wilks 2.

Pool C Game 1:

Liman (21) – Kilijan 7, Ratkov 5, Vasic 5, Kojic 4.
Gurugram (16) – Gill B. 6, Shastri 5, Gill I. 4, Ramirez 1.
Time: Kojic FT (7:42)

Pool D Game 1:

Ulaanbaatar (22) – Sir 11, Enkhbat 7, Davaasambuu 3, Tsogt 1.
Manila (11) – Iloka 5, Santos 4, Lanete 2, Holmqvist 0.
Time: Sir (5:52)