Ub Huishan NE win FIBA 3x3 World Tour Marseille Masters 2023
MARSEILLE (France) - Top seed Ub Huishan NE (SRB) made it three-in-a-row as they defeated Amsterdam HiPRO 18 - 21 in an unbelievable final to win the FIBA 3x3 World Tour Marseille Masters on July 1.
After going back to back in Utsunomiya and Manila, Ub continued their reign of being favorites heading into the event. However, this was the toughest challenge they had faced in the competition so far.
They suffered an upset loss to Jeddah 14 - 21 in the opener before picking up a must-win against Fribourg. In another tense affair, they emerged on top against an unbeaten Antwerp TOPdesk led by Dennis Donkor.
The challenges did not stop there as they went up against the side that had taken Marseille by storm, Vienna. Down 19-20, their hopes of defending their title were in jeopardy. Yet, it was a huge Maurice Lacroix buzzer beater by Nemanja Barac that took Ub to the finals to face Amsterdam with an on-fire Worthy De Jong.
The final was frenetic, a true 10-minute sprint. Amsterdam started the action with an alley-oop play for De Jong. Dejan Majstorovic immediately answered back with a two. The first 20 seconds of the game set the tone for the incoming action.
Strahinja Stojacic dazzled the crowd with huge twos and flashy highlight plays. De Jong kept answering back with thunderous jams. In just two and a half minutes, the score was 9 - 10 in favor of the Serbian side.
The flash did not stop from Worthy as he willed his side to stay in the game. Down 18-20, Arvin Slagter got fouled which would take him to the free throw line for two shots, a chance to tie the game. Slagter missed both. Stojacic capitalized and picked up a foul, finishing the game from the charity stripe to hand Ub their third title in three iterations of the Masters this season.
Barac’s impact on defense as well as his ability to make huge shots earned him the MVP for the event.
In the individual contests, Haarlem's Dylan van Eyck took home the Maurice Lacroix shoot-out contest, while Vadim "Miller" Piddubchenko won the Chooks to Go Dunk contest.
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Ub Huishan NE (SRB)
2. Amsterdam HiPRO (NED)
3. Vienna (AUT)
4. Jeddah (KSA)
5. Antwerp TOPdesk (BEL)
6. Plunge (LTU)
7. Marseille (FRA)
8. Haarlem (NED)
9. Fribourg (SUI)
10. Warsaw Lotto (POL)
11. Paris (FRA)
12. Düsseldorf LFDY (GER)
The action rolls on to Macau with the Macau Masters 2023 taking place on July 8 - 9.
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Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.
It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly professional circuit for men and women (World Tour and Women’s Series respectively) and national-team competitions.
3x3 made its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Wilson is the Global Ball Partner. Wilson is also the Apparel Partner, Maurice Lacroix the Official Timekeeper and Chooks-to-Go the Global Partner of the FIBA 3x3 World Tour 2023.
FIBA 3x3 events are played on Enlio floors with Wilson balls, Schelde backstops, Bodet shot-clocks and the Magic Sky canopy system.
For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Douyin, Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo, Tencent, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, Youku and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.basketball.