Edmonton 3x3 Challenger - Day 2 Review
Edmonton showed heart, strength and skill on the first day of their home tournament, but now, as the only Canadian team left in contention, all eyes and expectations were on them on the business end of the challenger.
Four teams had already been eliminated from the main draw, with a tough field remaining, including three teams in the world's top ten and a number of wild card teams who could cause even the top 3x3 outfits an upset.
First up for Edmonton on day two were Czech team Humpolec, the runners up of Pool B. After a back-and-forth start to their quarter final, Jordan Baker initiated two quick scoring runs, which put the Canadians up by six points as the game entered it's final stretch.
Vladimir Sismilich tried to start something for Humpolec, but at the decisive point of the game, Steve Sir hit one of his two-pointers to take Edmonton over the 21-point mark, booking their semi final spot with a 21-15 win over Humpolec.
Next up for Edmonton were the much-feared Novi Sad, who had so far been true to form in the tournament, winning all of their games so far. When they met with the hosts in the semi final, they opened with three unanswered points and led by six, 12-6, after just three minutes played.
Edmonton worked as a team to close the gap, getting to within two points, first mid-way through and then with two minutes left on the clock. Novi Sad then got to within one point of victory, only for the Jordans, Baker and Jensen-Whyte, to make it a one-point game in the final minute.
However, Dejan Majstorovic drew a foul and hit one last shot from the line, which won the game for Novi Sad and brought an end to Edmonton's home campaign. At the end, they were the second-highest scoring team of the tournament, with 20.5 points per game, and Sir leading the team's offence (7.0 points per game) and Landry the top rebounder (6.0 total boards).
Novi Sad went on to face another undefeated team in the final, NY Harlem, who had defeated Princeton 21-12 in the game prior to the final. They were on the same form in the final, making short work of the 3x3 titans to take the Edmonton title with a final routing of Novi Sad, 21-10.
Even though Edmonton came up short of victory on home turf, their performances in the West Edmonton Mall still won a spot in the Nanjing Masters in October. For more information on the Edmonton Challenger, check out the official 3x3 World Tour website.
Picture: FIBA.com
