Novi Sad Al Wahda win 3x3 World Tour Debrecen Masters

8 Sept 2016

DEBRECEN (2016 FIBA 3x3 World Tour) - Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE) won the 2016 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Debrecen Masters - the fifth of seven Masters - after defeating archrivals Ljubljana (SLO) 21-12 in the final on 7-8 September 2016.

The number one 3x3 player in the world Dusan Domovic Bulut took over in the title game after his team-mate Dejan Majstorovic suffered an ankle injury. 'Mr Bullutproof' scored 11 points including the game-winning free-throw. The 30-year-old led all scorers in Debrecen and was named MVP of the tournament.

Nobody buried more shots from outside the arc (13) than Ljubljana star Jasmin Hercegovac in Hungary but the sharpshooter could not connect in the final and was limited to just 3 points. He finished second overall in scoring while his team-mate Tomo Cajic was third.

It was the teams' third meeting at the World Tour this year. Novi Sad Al Wahda now leads 2-1 after beating Ljubljana in the semi-finals of the Utsunomiya Masters. The Slovenian team defeated the reigning champs in the semi-finals of the Prague Masters a month ago.

Both teams already earned their ticket to the World Tour Final (by winning in Utsunomiya and Prague respectively).

Since the Debrecen winners were already qualified, no team qualified directly to Abu Dhabi

This said, Kranj (SLO) and Belgrade (SRB) improved their chances to go through after moving to 6th and 7th respectively in the World Tour season standings. The top 12 teams in these standings after the last Masters of the season will make it to the World Tour Final.

Novi Sad Al Wahda extended their domination to the Shoot-Out Contest, that saw Marko Savic take home the trophy.

Last but not least, Ukrainian professional dunker Dmitry 'Smoove' Krivenko jumped higher than the twin towers of Debrecen's Reformed Great Church to wow the massive Hungarian crowd and win the Dunk Contest.

The World Tour returns on 16-17 September with the sixth Masters of the season in Beijing, China.

Final Standings of the 2016 FIBA 3x3 World Tour Debrecen Masters:
1. Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE)
2. Ljubljana (SLO)
3. Belgrade (SRB)
4. Split (CRO)
5. São Paulo DC (BRA)
6. Budapest (HUN)
7. Amsterdam (NED)
8. Kranj (SLO)
9. Debrecen (HUN)
10. Dnipro (UKR)
11. Bordeaux (FRA)
12. Berlin (GER)

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ABOUT FIBA 3x3

Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world’s number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefitted from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour (www.fiba.basketball/3x3worldtour) and national-team world championships.

Nike is FIBA 3x3's Founding Partner.

FIBA 3x3 events are played on Sport Court's floors with Schelde backstops and benefit from Wilson's innovative and specially-made ball for 3x3. 

For further information about 3x3, visit fiba.com/3x3, FIBA3x3 accounts on Facebook, InstagramTwitter and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.