VETERAN Chico Lanete scored 12 points, including two pressure-packed free throws, as Manila Chooks defeated Zaisan MMC Energy, 21-19, to advance to the eight-team quarterfinals in the 2022 Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Manila Masters at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay late Saturday.

Lanete’s heroics came after he was dropped to the ground following a battle for the rebound near the rim for the opposition’s seventh foul.

That capped the Filipinos’ comeback from a four-point deficit against Zaisan.

Forward Dennis Santos scored three of his four points to turn a four-point deficit to only one, 16-17, with 3:26 left before Lanete took over from there by scoring Manila’s last five points for the win.

His two free throws with 2:34 left sealed the win.

Nigerian slotman Henry Iloka added five points and six rebounds for Manila, which clinched the second seed in Pool D with a 1-1 record.

Manila dropped its first assignment to Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, 11-22.

The Filipinos will face Sansar MMC Energy in the quarterfinals. The Mongolian team clinched top seed in Pool B with a perfect 2-0 record.

Ikhbayar Chuluunbaatar had nine points and Gan-Erdene Gantsolmon had seven points for Zaisan, which went 0-2 and failed to carry over the momentum of its championship run in the Ulaanbaatar Super Quest.

Equally impressive was Cebu Chooks, which escaped with a 21-19 win over Zavkhan MMC Energy behind Mac Tallo’s game-winner

Tallo made the game-winning basket with 40.1 seconds left to power Cebu Chooks to victory over Zavkhan and a quarterfinal showdown against world no. 3 Liman.

Tallo, the Philippines’ top 3×3 player finished with three points, three rebounds, and four assists as Cebu Chooks redeemed itself from a tough loss to Ub Huishan NE earlier in the day.

Cameroonian Mike Harry Nzeusseu led Cebu Chooks with nine points and four rebounds.

Pool A top team Ub Huishan NE will meet Warsaw, which emerged as the second-best team in Pool C following its 21-15 (9:33) win over Indian ballclub Gurugram in the penultimate game of the day.

Pool D topnotcher Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy will take on Melbourne, which came out as the no. 2 team in Pool B.

The Australians actually won over Sansar, 22-16, but failed to finish as the top dog of the group after the tiebreakers.Their finish was determined by federation rankings instead.

World no. 2 Antwerp was eliminated from the group.

The FIBA 3×3 tournament offers a $122,000 (P6,375,415) prize pool with the champion getting the lion’s share of $40,000 (P2,090,300).

The scores:

Pool B Game 3:
Melbourne (22) – Wagstaff 11, Steel 6, Hire 3, Wilks 2.
Sansar (16) – Onolbaatar 5, Ariunbold 5, Borgil 4, Avarzed 2.
Time: Wagstaff 2 (8:49)

Pool C Game 3:
Warsaw (21) – Zamojski 13, Diduszko 3, Pawlowski 3, Rduch 2.
Gurugram (15) – Gill B. 6, Shastri 5, Gill I. 4, Ramirez 0.
Time: Zamojski FT (9:33)

Pool D Game 3:
Manila (21) – Lanete 12, Iloka 5, Santos 4, Holmqvist 0.
Zaisan (19) – Chuluunbaatar 9, Gantsolmon 7, Nyamdorj 3, Batsaikhan 0.
Time: Lanete FT (7:25)