By REYNALD MAGALLON
CEBU CITY – Jimmy Fredette displayed his NBA pedigree and took charge in the end game as Miami survived Vienna with a nail-biting 22-19 win to rule the 2023 Chooks-To-Go FIBA 3×3 World Tour Cebu Masters at the SM Seaside City here on Sunday, Sept. 24
With the Americans trailing by two against the Austrians who were looking to deliver the killer blow, Fredette came up huge and drilled back-to-back deuces in the final moments to hand his team its very first Masters title this circuit and USA’s first pro title since 2019.
Down 18-19, the former NBA player turned 3×3 star, nailed the first of his two big hits over two defenders. Needing one more stop to prevent the Austrians from delivering the clincher, Dylan Travis also stepped up and completed a huge steal on Quincy Diggs from top of the key.
Miami then immediately went to Ferdette who buried the game-clinching deuce from the right wing to put a fitting ending to their masterful tournament that also saw them upset the world No. 1 team Ub Huishan, 21-13 in the semifinals.
Fredette wound up with nine points built on trey two-pointers while Canyon Barry provided ample support with eight markers.
Meantime, Manila Chooks! found world No. 1 team Ub Huishan NE simply too much to handle, absorbing a 21-14 defeat to bow out of contention.
Top ranked 3×3 player Strahinja Stojacic stamped his class over the Filipinos, scoring at will and in a variety of ways to help the Serbian representatives create the much-needed separation and advance to the semifinals of the tournament.
The Filipinos were actually still up by three, 7-4, behind the hot start from Marcus Hammonds before ‘The Maestro” in Dejan Majstorovic and the ‘Dr. Strange’ in Stojacic weaved their magic to seize control of the contest.
Majstorovic first scored on back-to-back layups to tie the game at 7-all before Stojacic went on a personal 4-0 run capped by a booming deuce from the left wing to take an 11-7 lead.
The Serbians then just needed to fend off Manila’s repeated efforts to make a comeback as Marko Brankovic sealed the deal with an and-1 play with still 1:21 left in the clock.
Stojacic led the way for Ub with 11 points while Majstorovic provided support with six.
Still, the stint was an achievement for the Chooks Manila! after finally ending a 15-month winless run in the circuit after defeating Futian of China in the pool play.
