Serbia showed why they are the best 3×3 team in the world, as they brought down both of their opponents in the second day of the FIBA 3X3 World Cup 2018, Saturday at the Philippine Arena.
The world’s number one started their tournament debut facing the Netherlands. The Serbians and the Dutch are familiar foes, as they faced each other in last year’s Finals.
The Dutch shot themselves in the foot late in the match, as their block on 3X3 icon Dusan Bulut’s lay-up was whistled for a goaltending violation, and they practically gave Serbia the win, 21-17.
The Serbians – made up of Bulut, Marko Savic, Dejan Majstorovic, and Stefan Stojacic – then followed it up with a 22-13 romping of New Zealand to finish the day with a 2-0 card and sit atop Pool A.
“Second game was much easier for us compared to our first one. Little bit stiff team from New Zealand — they were very powerful and strong,” reflected Bulut. “But they were not able to adjust to our speed and we were able to run by them. That’s the crucial factor in the win.”
The Netherlands, with a 1-1 card, are second in Pool A, having vented their ire on Kyrgyrztan, 22-7. The latter is third in the pool as it stormed back and stunned Romania, 20-18.
Romania is fourth, also with a 1-1 card, getting its victory at the expense of New Zealand, 16-12. New Zealand, meanwhile, lies dead last in the pack with a 0-2 card.
On the other hand, Canada ended the second day as the leader of Pool C.
The Canadians, just like the Serbians, carry a clean 2-0 card. They registered their first win over Russia, 20-17. and their second came from 3×3 World Cup debutant Mongolia, 21-15.
Canada’s win over the Mongolians came in come-from-behind fashion, as it crawled back from a 0-7 deficit early on to pull the rug from underneath the current FIBA 3×3 Asia silver medalists.
Running behind Canada is the Philippines. Gilas 3X3 impressed right away in their tournament debut by earning a convincing 15-7 victory over the neon-green-clad Brazil.
Gilas was poised to go 2-0 as it started strong versus Mongolia, but Dunguul Enkhbat and his crew were simply too experienced and humbled the Filipinos at the end, 21-17.
Coming in at third and fourth are Russia and Mongolia, respectively, with 1-1 records under their belts. The Russians registered their win versus Brazil, 20-16, to send the latter to 0-2.
Canada’s Steve Sir emerged as the second day’s top scorer as he collected 21 points.
