NOVI Sad Al Wahda of UAE successfully defended its Fiba 3x3 World Tour title after defeating Kranj of Slovejia, 17-14, on Friday in Abu Dhabi.
The champions swept their five game in the tournament at the Corniche, a high-traffic leisure area on the shores of the Arab Gulf.
Novi Sad Al Wahda bagged US$30,000, while Kranj won US$20,000.
Third-place NY Harlem earned $16,000, Trbovlje got $12,000 after finishing fourth and Ljubljana of Slovenia got $10,000 for fifth place.
The Calvin Abueva-led Manila North were the sixth in the 12 team tournament and got the last money place, bagging $8,000.
No. 1 3x3 player Dusan Domovic Bulut led all scorers with 42 points in the tournament and a game-high eight in the final, winning MVP honors.
It was the third straight year that Novi Sad Al Wahda beat Kranj at some stage of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final. The sharpshooting Dejan Majstorovic contributed six points.
Speedy playmaker Boris Jersin netted 7 points and the all-around Mensud Julevic added 5 in a losing effort.
Kranj qualified for the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Final by winning the Prague Masters while Novi Sad Al Wahda had won two Masters in the same year in Manila and Rio de Janeiro.
The fourth edition of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour featured six Masters, starting with the Manila leg in August with stops in Prague, Beijing, Lausanne, Mexico DF and Rio de Janeiro.
The Final saw the top two teams of all six Masters.
While Novi Sad Al Wahda went undefeated in Abu Dhabi, the team had to defeat the city’s entire Filipino community which came to support Manila North and their star player Calvin ‘The Beast’ Abueva in the quarterfinals.
In possibly even more dramatic circumstances, Bulut’s men stunned Trbovlje of Slovenia in the semifinals in overtime after being down by two in the closing seconds of regulation.
Source: Spin.ph
