The latest round of 3X3.EXE action saw Lincoln.EXE’s wins over the University of Canterbury.EXE in their semi-final and the Gators.EXE in the final drew them level atop the ladder with the aforementioned front-runners
This article courtesy BBNZ
Photos courtesy Richard Connelly/GamefaceNZ
Lincoln University’s Josiah Williams redeemed a costly error in pool play to elevate his team to round six victors of the 3×3.EXE South Island premier competition at Christchurch’s Ara Institute on Sunday.
Williams missed a layup in their 16-15 loss to Gators.EXE in pool play but that would have sent the game into Overtime, but more than made up for this with a left-handed finish off the glass in their semi-final to earn his team a 21-20 win over competition leaders the University of Canterbury.EXE.
Lincoln University.EXE then utilised Ben Hall’s size to reverse their earlier loss to the Gators and claim a 21-16 win in the final and pull themselves back into first-equal on the table.
Gators’ sharp-shooter Matt Mischewski impressed, while Canterbury had the best of both worlds with Brent Fisher inside and Paul Stephenson on the perimeter.
Williams said with many of the teams going with small line-ups, they saw an opportunity:
Mischewski said they would have preferred UC to beat Lincoln to help their chances of getting a top-two finish and a trip to Japan, but was happy to have made the final again after his team eased past Checkers.EXE 22-13 in the final four.
Round Six Results:
University of Canterbury.EXE 13-11 Checkers.EXE
Gators.EXE 16-15 Lincoln University.EXE
Checkers.EXE 18-13 Wolverines.EXE
Lincoln University 21-16 Atami.EXE
University of Canterbury.EXE 21-10 Wolverines.EXE
Gators.EXE 18-16 Atami.EXE
Semi-final 1: Lincoln University.EXE 21-20 University of Canterbury.EXE 20
Semi-final 2: Gators.EXE 22-13 Checkers.EXE
Final: Lincoln University.EXE 21-16 Gators.EXE
SOUTH ISLAND CONFERENCE – Points Table after six rounds:
Lincoln University.EXE 17, University of Canterbury.EXE 17 , Gators.EXE 13, Checkers.EXE 8, Atami.EXE 7, Wolverines.EXE 4.
Official Results are available on play.fiba3x3.com, and the event was streamed on our facebook page
More information:
The winners of each of the South Island and North Island conferences after all eight rounds will qualify for the 3X3.EXE Premier finals in Japan.
The teams that come second in each of the NZ conferences will go to a qualifying tournament, and the winning team will be given automatic entry in the main tournament. With all expenses paid, those four teams will compete for a share of USD$20,000 in prize-money in Tokyo in September. The winner of the big Tokyo based event will also qualify for a FIBA World Tour Masters Event.
NZ 3X3.EXE Rounds Remaining:
• Round 7, 17-18 August
• Round 8, 24-25 August
• 3×3.EXE Playoffs in Tokyo, 7-8 September
For more information including Schedule, Ladder, Teams and Images, please see the dedicated 3X3.EXE BBNZ page
Follow the 3X3.EXE Premier League on Basketball New Zealand’s social media channels: @BasketballNZ on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and on the website, nz.basketball
