Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas bowed out of the FIBA Asia Champions Cup after suffering an 86-70 quarterfinal defeat at the hands of defending titlists China Kashgar on Thursday at the Chenzhou Sports Center in China.
Naturalization candidate Isaiah Austin scored 16 points and 11 boards to lead the Philippine club. But his much-anticipated showdown against Andray Blatche didn’t happen as the naturalized Filipino didn’t suit up for his mother club.
Kiefer Ravena chipped in 16 points as Carl Bryan Cruz and Jett Manuel each had 10 points for Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas which came back from a 0-8 start to the game and engaged the hosts in a tightly contested match for the first three quarters.
China Kashgar pulled away at the end of the third quarter, turning a 51-47 lead into a 68-57 edge heading into the final canto.
China Kashgar launched a 16-6 run at the start of the fourth quarter to finally take the fight out of Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas.
With the loss, Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas was relegated to the classification round. It will next face Shabab Al Ahli of UAE on Friday.