2021 3x3 Montreal Masters - Day One Recap

It was almost two years to the day when the 3x3 World Tour was last in Canada - and the start of the 2021 Montreal Masters tournament made up for the long wait with plenty of drama, excitement and first-rate basketball on its opening day.

Crowds had descended on the Quebecois city to welcome back the world tour and they had not one but three Canadian teams to root for. DeFacto home team Old Montreal would be facing emerging 3x3 powerhouse Ub and Swiss superpower Lausanne in Pool B, while in Pool A Winnipeg had top-seeded Riga as well as Raudondvaris from Lithuania to overcome for a place in the knockout round. Canada's number one 3x3 team, Edmonton, had unpredictable opposition Antwerp and Manila to contend with in Pool D.

The organisers paid tribute to Edmonton captain Steve Sir ahead of what is to be his last 3x3 tournament in Canada. He and his team then took to the court against Antwerp and after some early low post points from Edmonton, Antwerp surged in front with their two-point shooting, leading 13-4 after four minutes played.

Despite the Albertan team creating chances for themselves in the lane, the damage already done by the Belgians could not be overcome. A final step back two from Thibaut Vervoort - the last of his game-high 14 points - won Antwerp the game with three minutes left on the clock.

This being Antwerp's second win, they were assured of a quarter-final spot and it meant the victor of the last match-up between Edmonton and Manila would be do-or-die for both teams. Edmonton had to fight to hold on to their lead in the face of relentless low post play from Manila, with Mark Tallo proving to be a particular thorn in their side.

Adika Peter-McNeilly kept trying to start a scoring run for Edmonton but every time they were interrupted by one of Manila driving through the lane. With the scores tied at sixteen apiece, Edmonton went on a five-point scoring run in seventeen seconds, seeing them prevail in their must-win game and in dramatic fashion

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Meanwhile at the start of Pool B, Old Montreal put up five points without reply to lead by two after the first three minutes, but Strahinja Stojacic led a quick turnaround by the Serbian team. Ub had the most success at basket in the low-scoring game and finished with six points unanswered to hand Old Montreal opening defeat, 21 points to 12.

There was now no room for error for Old Montreal when it came to their second game against Lausanne. The Swiss team came out firing and took a four-point lead after two minutes, Dele Ogundokun's two-point shooting tied the scores but Lausanne hit back with a vengeance, putting up seven points unanswered.

Held to just a few open looks in the latter half of the game, Old Montreal were helpless in the face of relentless close-range play from Lausanne. Winning 20-11, the Swiss team grabbed the last

Where Winnipeg were concerned, in their opening game against Riga Paris Kyles gave them two early leads, the second at three points, but the Latvians caught up from beyond the arc and went in front. Kyles and the rest of the team kept trying to make up the difference from close range, but Karlis Lasmanis alone was too much for them to stop. He put up five points in a row to end the game with Riga the victors 21-15

In the last pool game they kept it tight after the Lithuanians took an early lead, and after much back and forth between the teams, twos by Kyles and Brensley Haywood put the Canadian team in front at the mid-point of the match-up.

Raudondvaris were quick to respond and three times they tied the scores only for Winnipeg to put themselves back in front. With the last of his game-high twelve points, Kyles made the plays where Winnipeg reached 21 points and emerged with the all-important win, guaranteeing them they would still be in contention on day two.

Winnipeg had survived the pool stage and set up a quarter-final tie with Princeton - who finished top of Pool C winning both their games by a single point - while Edmonton face a tough trial against Ub to stay alive in Montreal. If they both win they will meet in the semi finals. The other quarter finals see Riga take on Pool C runners-up Amsterdam and Antwerp face Lausanne.

With such a high standard on the first day the conclusion of the Montreal Masters should be a highly competitive clash to the end. Check back here for the full report on finals day and find out more about everything that happened over on the official FIBA 3x3 website.

Picture Credit: Fiba3x3.com