FCebu City— Miami of the United States first stunned top seed and world No. 1 Ub Huishan NE of Serbia in the semifinals before it capped a whirlwind weekend with a taste of a sweet first World Tour Masters title in four years.
Former NBA player Jimmer Fredette banged in two straight two-pointers, including the game-winning deuce as Miami essayed a thrilling 22-19 (9:12) victory over gritty Vienna of Austria Sunday night in the final of the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters before a wild and roaring crowd at the SM Seaside City Cebu here.
Fredette, who was named tournament MVP, wound up with a team-high nine points that he laced with four rebounds, while Canyon Barry added eight points and four rebounds.
Kareem Maddox and Dylan Travis combined for Miami, which turned back Puerto Rico’s San Juan 21-17 in the quarterfinals before hurdling whipping Ub Huishan NE 21-13 in the Final Four.
The US quartet bagged the top cash prize of $40,000.
“This is an unbelievable tournament. Chooks-to-Go and FIBA did a great job putting it on. The fans here are the best in the world — the atmosphere, the energy, the support in every game all day long is incredible,” Barry, who is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Rick, said.
“Big shout out to the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3×3. Thank you for having us.”
Vienna waylaid Wuxi of China 21-17 in the Last Eight before nipping the Netherlands’ Amsterdam HiPRO on a buzzer-beating floater by Quincy Diggs in the semis.
While it fell short in the quarterfinals, there is solace and renewed hope for Manila Chooks! after a memorable world stage stint—the Filipino 3×3 cagers have finally triumphed after more than a year.
Ub Huishan NE trounced Manila Chooks! 21-14 (8:39) in their knockout quarterfinals duel.
Tallo scored the game-winning two pointer as Manila Chooks! scored a hard-earned and dramatic 21-17 decision (1:39) over Futian of China in Pool C of the main draw Saturday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
The last time a Chooks 3×3 team won in the World Tour Masters was last year in Manila.
In the slam dunk contest, multiple-time world champion Rafal “Lipek” Lipinski of Poland beat the Philippines’ David “Air” Carlos for $4,000, while Ulaanbaatar MMC Energy’s Steve Sir edged Manila Chooks’ Mac Tallo, 14-13, to reign in the two-point shootout.