Novi Sad powers Manila North past to win Manila leg crown

By: Julin Rikki Reyes

Novi Sad Al Wahda lived up to its name as the best 3x3 team in the world when they proved
their dominance on Sunday, clobbering Manila North, 21-14, to win the 2015 FIBA 3x3 Manila Masters
title at the jam-packed Robinsons Place Manila.

With 40 seconds left in the clock, current world number one 3x3 player Duan Domovi Bulut
connected in a fadeaway jumpshot in the right side to seal the defending world tour champions victory.

Bulut finished with nine points while Dejan Majstorovi heated up with 10 points, including the
numbers of outside shots from beyond the arc that created a huge gap between the scores of the two
teams in the middle going.

Both Novi Sad and Manila North has gained their spot in the World tournament on October this
year at Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Novi Sad, which is composed of Serbian players, withstood Manila Norths highly-physical way of
playing basketball, keeping their focus in spite of the confrontation-full game.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based team took advantage of the disorganized and hot-
headed Manila North side right after a heated quarrel between the players, burying them up with the
riffles of outside shots that led to an 11-3 salvo.

The raging fire-like shooting performance of Novi Sad from beyond the rainbow distance
continued, burning Manila Norths chances of winning the tournament as the world champs built a huge
19-8 lead, more than a minute to go.

Calvin Abueva tried to spark a Manila Norths rally but he bungled several of his attempts in the
end game before the exclamation point from Bulut.

Manila Norths 14-point effort was the highest scoring output tallied by a Novi Sad opponent in
this tournament.

Novi Sad, who also had Marko Savi and Marko dero in its roster has easily powered their way
in the finals of this two-day tournament, trashing Auckland, 21-10, and Doha, 21-13, in the quarters and
semis respectively.

On the other hand, Manila North, composed of Abueva, Vic Manuel, Karl Dehesa and Troy
Rosario, had to play gritty battles against Kobe in the quarterfinals and Manila West in semis before
escaping with 21-19 and 21-14 triumphs respectively.

Meanwhile, Terrence Romeo of Manila West took home the Most Valuable Player award of this
tournament sponsored by Nike and Wilson Sporting Goods after leading all the scores from day one to
day two.

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