2019 3x3 Montreal Masters - Day 2 Recap
- Sep 9, 2019
- 2 min read
The first day of the Montreal Masters went as expected, but day two was the reverse - plenty of surprises and unexpected results were seen as the tournament knockout phase began.
Coming the day after Canada won gold in the women's series tournament on the same court, national hopes were behind Edmonton, the last Canadian team in contention after Old Montreal and Toronto's elimination in the pool stage, to make it the second title taken in as many days.
First up were the quarter finals, where they faced Lausanne - normally a very capable team not to be taken lightly, but here were lagging and unsure, and Edmonton took full advantage.
Edmonton opened with eight points before Lausanne got on the board, then took a double-digit lead with little more than four minutes played. With Jordan Baker proving the stand out for Edmonton with a game-high nine points, they swept Lausanne 21-6 and moved on to face Liman in the semi finals.
The Serbian team, who made the semi finals after a 22-13 defeat of Piran in the earlier round, were deadlocked with Edmonton for the first part of the game, with nothing to separate the teams until a two from Jordan Baker gave Edmonton a bigger buffer.
Liman then went in front by one, only for Edmonton to respond with five unanswered points to take their biggest lead of the game at that point. Every time that Liman tried to push them, Edmonton struck back with a vengeance - finishing the game with a five-point run, they brought the game to a close ahead 21 points to 14.
Edmonton had won their place in the final and their opponents for their first World Tour silverware would be a surprise package in the form of Sakiai.
The Lithuanian team had an uncertain start to the tournament, finishing second in the pool, but were far more convincing in the knockout stage. First dispatching Zemun by 20 points to 12 then bringing down the 3x3 titans Novi Sad in a close semi final, they were on the warpath and ready to be the biggest villains of the day as they met Edmonton in the final.
After a back-and-forth start to the final, Sakiai asserted themselves with their outside shooting. They would go on to drop six two-pointers in the title decider. Baker came to Edmonton's rescue once again, taking them to within one, but Sakiai responded with a six-point run, putting them within two points of victory.
A final knifing layup from top scorer Paulius Beliavicius, the last of his ten points, took Sakiai to 21 points, ending the game and securing them their first 3x3 World Tour title.
Small crumbs of comfort for heartbroken Edmonton were that they were the second-highest scorers in the tournament behind Novi Sad, and Steve Sir and Kyle Landry finished in the top five for scoring and rebounding respectively. The title would have been the better prize, but there's still time for them to do that in 2019.
For more information and full details on all games in the Montreal Masters, check out the official FIBA 3x3 website.
Picture: FIBA.com
Comments