Winnipeg at the 3x3 Jeju Challenger: Full Review
Winnipeg had a chance to shine on the 3x3 world stage in the last challenger tournament of the year. Taking place on the Korean island of Jeju, the challenger saw some of the top teams taking part in the battle for places in the last World Tour stop before the final in Utsunomiya.
The Canadian team - made up of Jelane Pryce, Steven Wesley, Ayob Ayob and Wyatt Anders - were one of the lowest-ranked teams and from the start faced a hard qualifying pool which also contained notable American team Princeton.
When they faced Princeton, though, they opened with an early six-point run which they managed to build on to the final buzzer. Three players scored six points, but it was Winnipeg who emerged victorious by a margin of 19 points to 15.
Next up for Winnipeg was a back-and-forth game against Balanga from the Philippines, which was uncertain from beginning to end. A final basket from Jelane Pryce in the closing seconds – bringing his total to a game-high eleven and the final score to 17-16. Two wins and Winnipeg had earned their place in the main draw.
They progressed the Pool C, which also contained with top ten team Piran and high-rankers Lausanne - the challenge was still on.
They saw a close start to the first pool game, where Piran took a four-point lead just after the halfway point. Four successive two-point shots then put Winnipeg up by three, but Piran kept knocking at the door and made up the deficit. In the last few minutes, while liminiting Winnipeg to just three points, Gasper Ovnik led Piran past the 21-point mark, the final score 22-17.
Winnipeg then opened against Lausanne with six unanswered points, only for the Swiss team to respond in kind with an eight-point run. Wyatt Anders leveled the scores and Jelane Pryce gave the lead back to Winnipeg down the stretch.
Lausanne’s top scorer, Marco Lehmann, brought the gap down to two, but they were unable to get another shot off in the remaining time. Winning 18-16, Winnipeg lived to see day two at their opponent's expense.
Their quarter final opponents were Pool A winners Neva. The Russian team had seen off Vrbas and Tokyo to make it to this point, but Winnipeg did not prove so easy to overcome. The lead kept changing hands until the turning point midway through the game when Neva went up by four. Jelane Pryce kept Winnipeg in contention, but Neva's greater physicality kept them in control. Leading 20-18 at the final buzzer, Neva moved on to the semi finals and Winnipeg's time in Jeju was over.
They left the challenger with 17.7 points per game, which put them in the top five and with 7.7 points per game, Jelane Pryce finished as the third-best scorer of the tournament.
There was still the title to decide, and the crowds in Jeju were in for something of a surprise. Ulaanbaatar, who finished second in Pool B behind NY Harlem, defeated Zemun by one point in the quarter finals and then beat Neva 14-12 to secure their spot in the title game.
They faced Piran who, possibly still recovering from their overtime game against NY Harlem, were not as dominant as they had been so far and Ulaanbaatar took advantage. Prevailing by a final score 13-10, Ulaanbaatar finished the challenger season on a high as the unexpected champions in Jeju.
