Edmonton at the 3x3 Bucharest Challenger: Full Recap
Back in action on the 3x3 circuit, Edmonton were ready to wow the crowds and fill the stat sheets at the Bucharest Challenger, where two spots in this month's Debrecen Masters were on offer.
Some of the biggest and most feared 3x3 teams took to the court in Bucharest, including Novi Sad, Riga, NY Harlem and Princeton. As in every tournament on the tour, the twelve teams were divided into pools of three, the top two teams then advancing to the knockout round.
Edmonton found themselves in Pool D and in their opening game against NY Harlem, despite an even team performance, they were shot down by Antoinne Morgano inside and Dominique Jones outside, the two lifting the American team to victory 21-15.
In their second game against Colorado City, though there was a lot of low-post intensity from both teams, Kyle Landry made the biggest impact in the paint and Steve Sir led all with eight points.
Edmonton secured a much-needed win, then they faced an agonising wait to see it was enough. To their relief, NY Harlem beat Colorado City in the day’s final game, securing first place for them and Edmonton passage to day two.
Edmonton were not going to take their shot at redemption for granted as they began their quarter final against San Juan, the winners of Pool B, which also contained Riga and Rotterdam.
Kyle Landry and Steve Sir combined once again to keep up the pressure on San Juan's defence, and with no answer from the Puerto Rican team, Edmonton ran out to victory, 21-14, and advanced to the semi finals to meet Split, who came all the way through from the qualifying pool to the semi finals in Bucharest.
The Croatians proved tough to contain in the paint, with Ante Markoc leading their scoring, and also hard to break down on defence. Jermaine Bucknor stepped up on Edmonton’s possessions and with Kyle Landry rampant on both ends - he had seven points and nine rebounds in this contest - it was another win for Edmonton, this time by just two points, and they would move on to face a familiar foe in the final.
After winning Pool D, NY Harlem continued their top form with a 21-18 quarter final win over Riga, then picking up a conclusive semi final win over compatriots Princeton. The team from New Jersey had previously beat Novi Sad to reach the semi finals, but did not produce the same form against NY Harlem, and lost 21-13.
NY Harlem were expected to give Edmonton a tough contest in the concluding game of the contest - and when the final tipped off, it certainly played out that way.
Dominique Jones was rampaging on offence, dropping five two-pointers and adding two from the field in the game. Steve Sir gave his all to try and keep Edmonton afloat, but they could not match a relentless NY Harlem and fell short in the final while their opponents celebrated success in Bucharest with a final 21-12 victory.
Despite the loss in the final, having made it that far Edmonton secured a spot in the Debrecen Masters. Also, Kyle Landry finished as Edmonton’s top scorer with 6.0 points per game and averaging 6.4 total boards, he was the third-best rebounder of the competition.
Edmonton will next be seen at the Ljubljana Challenger on the 17th and 18th of August. Until then, for more on all things 3x3, head over to the official website of the World Tour.
Picture: FIBA.com
