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3×3 Pro Hustle Series Wraps in Sydney
The NBL 3×3 Pro Hustle series has concluded in spectacular fashion, with the men’s and women’s champions being decided in front of the picturesque scenes provided by the Opera House.
The women converged on Circular Quay’s Overseas Passenger Terminal having seen the Deakin Melbourne Boomers team fall to the dominant Spectres-iAthletic in the final of the first two events, however the third and final Pro Hustle would be a different story.
AFLW and Melbourne Boomers star Monique Conti made play after play down the stretch, culminating in a miracle two-point shot that banked off the backboard sending the game into overtime in the final seconds of regulation.
? Conti for 3 to force OT ?@moniiquecontii #3x3Hustle pic.twitter.com/J6oxLMNkPI
— 3×3 Hustle (@3x3Hustle) May 13, 2018
Come overtime Conti, Jasmine Simmons, Ariel Thomas and Ezi Magbegor didn’t take a back step, bringing it to the Spectres for a thrilling 14-12 victory that had the Sydney crowd on their feet as the girls banked $10,000 in prize money on their third attempt.
Despite tasting defeat for the first time in the Pro Hustle Series, the Spectres-iAthletic team of Bec Cole, Hanna Zavecz, Marena Whittle and Izzy Chilcott still came away as the overall winners, receiving another $10,000 in winnings as well as four Tissot watches.
What. A. Game. The @MelbourneBoomer squad get it done in OT to take out the Pro Hustle 3 over the Spectres-iAthletic team but the girls from the Spectres finish our overall women’s champions, taking home another $10k and some ? @TISSOT watches #3x3Hustle pic.twitter.com/I1Dp8rmqnw
— 3×3 Hustle (@3x3Hustle) May 13, 2018
In the men’s side of the draw the biggest upset of the day came when The Bears and FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup MVP Tom Garlepp were knocked out in the quarter-finals by a hot shooting Sutherland team who had to fend off a late comeback driven by the Garlepp brothers.
The Sutherland squad got a shock when they faced The Platypuses with Jeremy Kendle putting on one of the most impressive shows in the whole 3×3 Pro Hustle series, scoring the first 14 points for his squad as they rolled through to yet another final.
The Tim Coenraad led Townsville Thunder team took it down to the wire against the Spectres-iAthletic men’s team, but it was Simon Conn who came up big in the clutch to advance through to their second straight final against The Platypuses.
Unsurprisingly, the men’s final was another arm wrestle with Anthony Petrie and Conn providing an entertaining matchup in the post while the top two 3×3 players in Australia, Andrew Steel and Tom Wright, had their hands full with NBL stars Kendle and Adam Gibson.
It was the team captain Anthony Petrie who came through in the clutch, hitting the dagger for The Platypuses who made it a clean sweep of the Pro Hustle series 19-17, claiming another $10,000 as winners of the third event, and a further $10,000 and four Tissot watches as the overall championship points winners.
The Platypuses make it 3 for 3 in the #3x3Hustle Pro series, securing another 10K payday for today’s event and an additional 10K for the series win.
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— 3×3 Hustle (@3x3Hustle) May 13, 2018
The 3×3 basketball goes up another level this week with the 3×3 FIBA Challenger event coming to the Overseas Passenger Terminal with the top 3×3 teams from around the globe playing in Australia for the first time.
