Melbourne iAthletic Fall To Riga In Chooks to Go Quarterfinal

3x3Hustle team Melbourne iAthletic pushed the second ranked FIBA3x3 team in the world to the limit today, losing 21-19 to Riga in the quarterfinals of the Chooks to Go FIBA3x3 Manila Challenger.

Coming from the qualifying draw, Melbourne did enough on day one to advance to the knockout stages, being drawn against Riga and the world’s top 3×3 player Karlis Lasmanis in the quarterfinal.

Leading 16-13 with 3:57 remaining, it seemed iAthletic was on the verge of a mighty upset. However, the power of Riga was too much to overcome, as they won 21-19. Riga would go on to win the Challenger event.

Andrew Steel led the scoring for Melbourne with seven, while Earnest Ross had five, Lee Roberts four and Greg Hire three.

3×3 basketball will make its debut as an Olympic sport in 2020 and a Commonwealth Games sport in 2022.

So. Close.

HUGE shouts to #3x3Hustle team Melbourne iAthletic, who pushed one of @FIBA3x3’s top teams Riga to the LIMIT in the quarterfinal of the Chooks to Go Manila Challenger 🏀 #3x3WT pic.twitter.com/jh4QsqVMJZ

— 3x3Hustle (@3x3Hustle) September 8, 2019