SAN JUAN (Puerto Rico)—USA (men) and Canada (women) win against Puerto Rico and USA respectively to win the FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup 2024 recently.
Team USA (men) steamrolled their way to the final with an unbeaten record. They went up against home side powerhouse Puerto Rico who had lit their way to the final themselves with a perfect record.
It was a high-flying blockbuster finals matchup with both teams rising to the occasion. With scores at 19 – 18 in favor of USA, it was Dylan Travis who called game with a tough two, earning USA Gold in a 21 – 18 thriller.
The Canadian women were their usual clinical self all tournament, going unbeaten on their way to the final where they faced a similarly on-fire USA side.
It was a physical battle between two highly-skilled sides. Canada maintained a slight advantage for the majority of the game but team USA kept answering back.
It was a late two from Abigail Hsu that tied things up, sending the game to OT. However, it would be Canada’s night as former World number one Katherine Plouffe would call game in the clutch, earning Canada gold with a 19 – 18 win.
In the bronze medal games, Canada (men) came back to win against Republica Dominicana 21 – 16. Jerome Desrosiers and Grant Allen Audu combined for 14 points in the tie, continuing on a hot scoring tournament for the duo led by the experienced Steve Sir.
Brazil (women) clutched up against home side Puerto Rico in a back-and-forth bronze medal game. It was the talismanic Luana de Souza who drilled a late two-pointer to hand them the lead. The shot would hand Brazil a 17 – 16 win for bronze.
Henry Caruso brought the show to San Juan as he was the hub of team USA’s (men) offense. He put up 26 points across the tournament and led all players in Player Value with 44.5. He earned himself MVP honors, leading the Men’s Team of the Tournament alongside Puerto Rico’s Angel Matias and Canada’s Steve Sir who were both instrumental in their respective sides finishing with silver and bronze.
Canada’s (women) Paige Crozon was lights out in scoring for her side. She would lead all players in points and player value, tallying 46 and a whopping 59.3 respectively. She handily won the MVP award, headlined the Women’s Team of the Tournament next to team USA’s Brittney Sykes and Brazil’s Gabriella Soares who were key to their sides success in the tournament.
