Novi Sad Al Wahda team receive the trophy from HE Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the Qatar Basketball Federation president, after winning the FIBA 3x3 All Stars title at the Gharafa Sports Complex court on Friday evening.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE) retained the FIBA 3x3 All Stars title defeating Saskatoon (Canada) 21-14 in the final at the Gharafa Sports Complex court here on Friday evening.
The No. 1 ranked 3x3 player in the world, Dusan Domovic lived up to his reputation as he emerged as the leading scorer with 27 points in four matches and won the Most Valuable Player honours. Domovic scored six points, including the winning free throw in the final, with his team dominating from the word go.
His teammate Marko Savic was the final’s top scorer with eight points, while sharp-shooter Dejan Majstorovic bagged seven points for the winners. It was Novi Sad’s second title in Doha, after they had triumphed last year in final against Team Doha at the Katara Village.
“I am very happy with the win. It is a very big victory for us at the end of a superb season,” Domovic said. “It’s amazing to end the season on a high and I think now we deserve a long holiday,” said the 30-year-old Serbian, who led his squad to a historic the FIBA 3x3 World Tour double in Abu Dhabi in September.
This is the second consecutive year when Domovic’s team has won both the FIBA 3x3 World Tour and the FIBA 3x3 All Stars in the same season. Talking about the reason behind his team’s successes in the season, Domovic said: “To be honest it was our hard work which paid off for us in the end.”
He also gave credit of the victory to his team-members. “We have a very good team and enjoyed the whole season together. We all are friends off court and hang out together and its lots of fun to win with them here. I hope we will stay in shape and stay focused for the new season,” he said.
Domovic also lauded the Gharafa complex facilities. “It is much better venue than Katara where we played last year. It is a big arena which can accommodate huge number of fans and it has all the infrastructure required for the game,” he added.
It was Saskatoon’s third straight loss against Novi Sad in a top 3x3 event. O’Neil Gordon scored five points in the final, while Michael Lieffers contributed four points for the Canadian team.
Asian No. 1 player Yaseen Musa-led Doha team, who finished second last year, ended fourth this time as they lost against Novi Sad in the semifinal 18-14. In another semifinal, Ljbuljana lost to Saskatoon 10-14. In the other side events, Kiefer Ravena and Jeron Teng, delighted the jam-packed stadium as they guided Philippines team to 18-11 victory over Qatar’s Under-18 3×3 squad.
Acting as guest ambassadors for the one-day spectacle, the Philippines’ superstars, who were backstopped by Nigerians Ola Adeogun and Bright Akhuetie, jumped to an early 4-0 lead and never looked back, punctuating the victory with a rim-rattling dunk from Akhuetie to end the 10-minute affair.
Porter Maberry and Justin Darlington of Team Americas won the dunk contest defeating Team Europe which featured 4-time FIBA 3x3 World Tour champ Rafal ‘Lipek’ Lipinski of Poland. Qatar’s Boney Watson triumphed in the QBF Shootout contest.
