Gilas Pilipinas Men in the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 3x3 basketball tournament. Photo courtesy of Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) Media Pool.Gilas Pilipinas Men punched their ticket to the semifinals after outlasting Chinese Taipei in a thriller, 21-19, in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Thursday at the Kinjo Futo Station Square Venue in Japan.
Luis Pablo drained the game-winning basket inside to finish with six points, six rebounds, and a block, while Koji Buenaflor notched the Philippines’ 20th point and finished with two points and 10 rebounds.
Also contributing were Nic Cabañero, who tallied eight points and two rebounds, and Andrei Dungo, who followed with five points and three rebounds.
Gilas will return to action on Friday afternoon to fight for a spot in the finals.
On the other hand, Wei-chieh Yeh led Chinese Taipei with 10 points and two assists, while Chun-sheng Chang finished with five points. Tzu-hsi Tzou and Tang-chi Hsu scored three and one point, respectively.