Riga rules Chooks FIBA 3×3 Cebu Masters

Ed Andaya

Oct 24

CEBU CITY -- World No. 4 Riga of Latvia crowned itself as the champion in the Chooks-to-Go FIBA 3x3 World Tour Cebu Masters 2022 at the SM Seaside City here Sunday.
Nauris Miezis made the difference as Riga brought down world No. 3 Antwerp of Belgium, 21-19, in a thrilling championship match before a big weekend crowd.
Miezis finished with 10 points, including the game-winning free throw with 4.8 seconds left, as the Latvians overcame a near collapse and escaped with the hard-earned victory.
Miezis, who was also named as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament, actually scored Riga's last seven points enroute to the victory.
With the win, Riga brought home the USD 40,000 (P2,359,140) top prize.
"I think I'm born for this moment," said Meizis, who is also the world's No. 8 3x3 player.
"That was a tough game - always against Antwerp. Last minute, we took our game in our hands. I'm really happy that we won," he added.
Karlis Lasmanis added six points, Edgars Krumins contributed three points and Agnus Cavars had two points for Riga, which also earned its second World Tour stop title this season after winning the Montreal Masters last September.
Thibaut Vervoort topscored for Antwerp with seven points and four rebounds in a losing effort.
Dennis Donkor finished with five points, Nick Celis added four points and Bryan De Valck chipped in three markers for the Belgium squad, which fell short of winning their second World Tour this season after ruling the Debrecen Masters last August.
Vervoort, the world's No. 6 3x3 player, put Antwerp ahead by three points, 17-14, with still 1:25 remaining.
But the Belgians failed to hold on to the lead and watched Miezis take over the game.
Antwerp settled for runner-up prize of USD 30,000 (P1,769,655)
Meanwhile, Piotr Grabowski of Poland defeated Phillippine bet David Carlos in the final to win the Slam Dunk competition.
The high-flyer from Poland took home the USD 4,000.
In the Shoot-out competition, Vervoort emerged as the best marksman after he fired 14 points.
Vervoort won over Mac Tallo of Cebu Chooks, Steve Sir of Ulaanbaatar and Chico Lanete of Manila Chooks.
Chooks-to-Go president Ronald Mascariñas awarded the prizes to the winners.
The two Philippine teams -- Cebu Chooks and Manila Chooks -- did not have a good tournament and failed to reach the quarterfinal round.
Cebu Chooks bowed out after losing via 21-14 decision at the hands of hot- shooting Omaha 3Ball USA.
Manila had to go through a qualifying draw, but could not advance after bowing to Doha QSC, 21-16.
The scores:
Riga (21) - Miezis 10, Lasmante 6, Krumins 3, Cavars 2.
Antwerp (19) - Vervoort 7, Donkor 5, Celis 4, De Valck 3. Robert Andaya