Discovery Perlas women bring home bronze in 3-on-3 hoops tourney

The Philippine women's 3-on-3 basketball team Discovery Perlas ng Pilipinas wrapped up their campaign with a gutsy bronze medal finish, coming from behind to drop Mongolia 16-15, Tuesday in the third Asian Beach Games basketball tournament. Like in their semifinal game versus China, the Philippines came out strong, posting a 3-0 start, but Mongolia struck back with four unanswered, to lead early on. Six ties and four lead changes later, Discovery Pilipinas stood tall and proud, getting the win thanks to a 24-6 advantage in points in the paint, while shooting better than 50 percent. Mongolia leaned on their outside shooting, hitting a full third of their two-point shots (the 3-on-3 equivalent of a three-pointer), but superior rebounding (19-15) and a 5 to 1 edge in the steals department by the Filipino ladies spelt the difference. Allana Lim and Merenciana Arayi led Discovery Perlas with seven points each, while the team's third starter, Analyn Almazan, went scoreless, but made up for it with six boards, four assists and a steal. Melissa Jacob added two points and three boards off the bench. - AMD, GMA News