COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (June 29, 2023) – After six days of competition at the 2023 FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League Asia-Pacific, the USA women finished atop the conference and earned a berth into the 2023 FIBA U23 Nations League Final. The women won five of the six stops in Handan, China, including the sixth and final stop on Thursday.
The 3x3 U23 Nations League Final is scheduled for Sept. 13-15 in Mongolia. The USA’s five stop titles, and one second place finish, earned them 580 tour points and the bid to the Final. Final standings from the 3x3 U21 Nations League can be found here.
The women, once again, powered their way to the stop 6 final with victories over China and Japan.
The only pool play game of the day was against Japan. The U.S. claimed a 21-16 victory and led wire-to-wire. The team had a balanced scoring effort with everyone scoring multiple times and three finishing with five-plus points. Morgan Maly led the way with eight points.
Much like the USA did against China in the stop 5 final, the team used stifling defense and an early scoring run to take the stop 6 title, 17-11. The contest opened with a China 2-pointer but a 17-4 run from the Americans sealed the game. The USA owned a 12-point lead with 2:41 left to play, their largest lead in a stop final this week.
The USA men placed third overall in the conference after taking fifth in stop six.
Represented by players from Trinity University, the U.S. men finished 1-1 on Thursday. The USA opened with a narrow 21-20 victory over China but came up short against Mongolia, 21-16. Over the course of the week, the Americans averaged 19.2 points per game, the second-most amongst the field.
ABOUT FIBA 3x3 NATIONS LEAGUE
Launched in 2017, the men’s and women’s FIBA 3x3 Nations League features two age groups – U23 and U21 – with dozens of national federations competing. The 2023 USA U21 Nations League teams competed in the FIBA 3x3 U21 Nations League Asia-Pacific Conference from June 23-29 in Handan, China. The competition features six three-game tournaments in seven days in which the six team members can substitute as needed for each day’s four-person entry. The winning team in each of 13 conference events hosted worldwide will qualify for the FIBA 3x3 U23 Nations League Final Sept. 13-15 in Mongolia.
ABOUT FIBA 3X3
Different than five-on-five, 3x3 is played on a half-court with a 10-minute game clock and 12-second shot clock. Play is continuous, as teams “clear” the ball behind the 2-point line following a made basketball, defensive rebound or steal. The first team to score 21 points via 1-pointer field goals or 2-pointers behind the arc is victorious; or if time expires then the team leading wins.