Photo: Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas

By Shawn De Guzman

Aldous Torculas and Jeff Manday came through with big hits down the stretch as Gilas Pilipinas survived India, 18-14 in the quarterfinals of the men’s 3x3 tournament in the 6th Asian Beach Games at the Sanya Gymnasium on Tuesday.

With the Filipinos down by one, 13-14, with 19 seconds left, Manday took matters into his own hands and scored a tough layup before Torculas coolly sank two free throws to repel the hard-fighting Indians.

Nic Cabanero led the way with six points while Manday had all three of his points in the waning seconds to tow the Nationals to the semifinals where they will play either Mongolia or Thailand.

“The character of the team is good. We are patient. Although we are the underdogs we are fighting. I’m just thankful to my teammates, they are the young guns,” said Manday, who tied the game at 14-all with the tough floater.

“This isn’t over yet. We still have the semis and we have to work again.”