Edmonton claim maiden 3x3 title in Nanjing
Edmonton are showing no teething problems in their first season on the professional 3x3 basketball circuit, scooping up the gold medal at the Nanjing Challenger.
Held in the central Chinese city, the tournament served as both a full tournament for lower-ranking 3x3 teams and as a qualifier for the main world tour's Chengdu Masters in June.
The team from Alberta got off to a great start with a 22-9 win over Chengdu in their opening game in Pool A, however fell short in their following match-up, a close encounter with Amsterdam, who won the game and group with a 21-19 final score. Even so, their earlier win was enough to see Edmonton through to the knockout stage.
On day two Edmonton faced Gagarin, the undefeated winners of Pool C, in the quarter-finals. Something had seemed to happen to the favoured Russian team in the night, though, as they were sent packing by the Canadian challengers 22-17.
Advancing to the semi-finals, Edmonton then faced Beijing South, the home-grown team who topped a tough Pool B which also contained Princeton and Los Angeles, followed up by a seven-point defeat of Delhi in the quarter-finals.
Though they held Edmonton to the full ten minutes of play, the home side could not overcome the Canadians, who won the game 19-14 and booked their spot in the final with Princeton.
Princeton's only setback all weekend was a 21-17 pool loss to Beijing South, but having secured a knockout stage spot, they managed to win by two points over Pool D winners Ralja, and then dominate Yekaterinburg in the semi-finals 21-10.
The Americans' athleticism and ability to find open looks saw them take a four-point lead in the final, but Edmonton responded with eight unanswered points, and their physicality and shooting from beyond the arc first saw them see off the advances of their opponents, then dominate proceedings.
Edmonton looked comfortable after taking a 19-10 with less than three minutes remaining, but Princeton responded with six points on the bounce. The final minute became heated as Edmonton tried to put the game to bed while fighting off constant attacks from Princeton.
They did enough to keep the scoreline standing at 19-16 at the final buzzer, which saw the team capture their first 3x3 tournament title in their still-young history, as well as a place in the Chengdu Masters later this year. Edmonton finished with the highest point averages of all teams in Nanjing, with Steve Sir leading everyone with 7.2 points per game.
Edmonton will next be seen in action in the Penang Challenger, which starts on May 11th. More on this tournament and the 3x3 World Tour can be found on the official FIBA website.
