MANILA North knocked out defending champion Manila West but rammed into a more experienced world No. 1 Novi Sad Al Wahda in the finals of the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) 3×3 World Tour opening leg on Sunday at the jam-packed Robinsons Place in Ermita, Manila.
A quarterfinalist last year, Manila North yielded a 21-14 decision to Novi Sad of the United Arab Emirates, the champion in the 2014 Fiba 3×3 World Tour, to settle for runner-up honors but nonetheless clinched a spot in this year’s World Tour in Dubai in October.
Dusan Domovic Bulut, the world’s No. 1 3×3 player, sank a fallaway jumper that sealed the victory for Novi Sad, which also won the $10,000 prize.
The championship match turned physical early on with Novi Sad’s Marko Savic hitting Manila North’s Karl Dehesa in the face and both teams nearly came to blows.
But Novi Sad, which beat last year’s runner-up Doha of Qatar, 21-13 in the semifinals, used its experience and started to pull away, capitalizing on Manila North’s early penalty situation.
Despite the loss, Manila North, composed of Dehesa, Calvin Abueva, Vic Manuel and Troy Rosario, is advancing to the World Tour on October 15 and 16.
Manila North reached the finals with a 21-18 victory over Manila West. Abueva had 10 points in the semifinals to lead his team.
But Manila West won’t go home empty-handed. It swept the side events with Terrence Romeo winning the Three-Point Shooutout and Rey Guevarra upsetting crowd-favorite and 5-foot-5Porter Marberry in the Slam Dunk competition, 80-79. Romeo and Guevarra pocketed $2,000 each.
Romeo was also named the Most Valuable Player of the two-day tournament.
The No. 10 seed Manila North endured a physical quarterfinal encounter against sixth-ranked Kobe of Japan and pulled off a 21-19 win to advance to the semifinals. Abueva’s follow-up shot sealed the win for the host team.
Manila West, on the other hand, flirted with disaster as it nearly blew a 19-15 lead against Longshi of China in their own quarterfinal match.
Longshi, whose members play for Guangdong Foshan Dralions in the Chinese Basketball Association, trimmed the lead to 19-20 but Guevarra clinched the semifinal spot with a drive.
Romeo, the country’s No. 1 3×3 player, had 11 points against Longshi, while Aldrech Ramos chipped in six.
Novi Sad coasted to the semifinals with a 21-10 whipping of New Zealand’s Auckland, while Doha of Qatar made it to the Final Four after downing No. 2 seed Ljubljan of Slovenia, 21-19.