The run is over for Gilas Men—but it ended better than it has in years.
Gilas Men fell to South Korea 18–15 in the men’s quarterfinals of the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup 2026 on Sunday at OCBC Square in Singapore, ending their campaign one win short of the Final Four.
Korea Gets Better of Gilas Men
Korea set the tone early. Donggeun Lee, Juyeong Lee, and Mingyo Ku combined for a 4–0 run out of the gate, and Gilas spent much of the game chasing. Chris Koon got the Philippines on the board with a two-pointer, and the Filipinos showed enough fight to level it at 7–all and again at 9–all. Jerrick Ahanmisi‘s deuce pulled Gilas to within one at 15–16 with the game still alive.
That was as close as they would get. Ku converted a point, Donggeun Lee added a layup, and the margin was suddenly too large with too little time left. Final score: 18–15.
Ahanmisi carried the offensive load with 8 points, all from two-point territory. Koon and Sean Alter each added 3 points. Ralph Cu, however, managed just 1 point on 1-of-9 shooting—a performance the team will want to forget quickly. Donggeun Lee had 8 points for Korea, while Juyeong Lee chipped in 5 and Ku added 4.
Gilas Men Trending Up?
The loss stings, but the context matters. This is the best Gilas Men have finished at the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup in four years. After reaching fourth place in 2022, the program fell off—10th in 2023, 11th in 2024, and failing to even reach the pool stages last year. Making the quarterfinals in Singapore is not a ceiling but maybe a foundation.
And so the men’s Final Four is set: Japan, New Zealand, China, and South Korea. Japan and New Zealand meet in one semifinal; China and Korea in the other.
Gilas Men will not be there. But they might be heading in the right direction.
