Edmonton at the Nanjing Masters - Day 2 Recap
There must be something in the Nanjing air, the Chinese city seemingly inspiring Edmonton to play at their best, as evidenced on the second day of competition in the 2019 Nanjing Masters.
After an uncertain first day of competition, scraping into the knockout stage with one win and one loss, Edmonton still had their eyes on the prize but had a hard road ahead of them. Their first game would be against formidable American opponents NY Harlem.
Outmatching the New Yorkers in the paint, they put the first points on the board and quickly had a four-point lead. Marcel Esonwue closed the gap for NY Harlem, but every time their opponents threatened, Edmonton responded as a team and reinforced their advantage.
Jordan Jensen-Whyte gave them their biggest lead of the game at six points with just under 2:30 left on the clock, and two more points took Edmonton over the 21-point line, guaranteeing their semi final spot with a six-point victory over NY Harlem. They advanced to the semi finals to face Riga, who had defeated Novi Sad to reach this point in competition.
Edmonton's matchup with the Latvians was close from the start, with only a point ever separating the teams in the first five minutes. Five unanswered points from Jordan Baker gave them the game's biggest lead and despite the best efforts from Riga, Edmonton kept up the pressure on offence. Steve Sir made the final score 21-17 in Edmonton's favour and their place in the final was secure.
Their opponents in the final would be Sakiai, the Lithuanian team who had been one of the biggest surprise packages on the 2019 World Tour. In Nanjing they had yet to see defeat and made the final with an impressive 22-17 win over Liman. It looked like Edmonton were going to have to dig deep to take the title.
In the final, Edmonton took an early lead and with great shot selection quickly found themselves with a five-point lead. Sakiai's Marijus Uzupis and Aurelijus Pukelis tried to turn the game around for their team, but with inconsistent close-range accuracy, they could not catch up with any urgency.
Edmonton, meanwhile, dominated in the paint with thirteen one-point shots, while Steve Sir took care of the outside shooting with three two-pointers, making up the bulk of his game-high seven points. With just over a minute and a half to go Jensen-Whyte put away their 21st point, bringing the game to the close and the final result they wanted so bad - Edmonton were Nanjing Masters champions.
Victory here punches their ticket to the final in Utsunomiya final, doubts as to whether they would qualify are now officially over. The closing stage of the 3x3 World Tour is where Edmonton will next be seen, until then find all the information on the Nanjing Masters over at the official FIBA 3x3 website.
