3’s Company meets Power in BIG3 finals
The championship showdown was arranged between 3’s Company and Power after the two teams dispatched their respective foes in the semifinals of the 2018 BIG3 3-on-3 basketball league at the jampacked American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas on Friday night (Saturday morning in Manila).
Hometown boy Andre Emmett sizzled with 27 points, carrying 3’s Company to a 50-28 rout of 3 Headed Monsters in front of a record 16,402 audience.
“It feels great. My whole city came out to support me and it was awesome,” said Emmett, who once played as an import for the Meralco Bolts in the Philippine Basketball Association in 2015.
Emmett was supported by Dahntay Jones, who chipped in 11 markers in the blowout win that saw head coach Nancy Lieberman’s third seed 3’s Company upset Gary Payton’s second seed 3 Headed Monsters.
Reggie Evans led last year’s runners-up 3 Headed Monsters with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Meanwhile, Glen Davis sank the game-winning free throws as top team Power escaped Tri-State, 51-49.
Tied at 49-all, ex-Boston Celtics forward Davis shook off a hard foul from David Hawkins then hit the win-sealing shots from the charity stripe.
Corey Maggette topscored with 16 points, Davis fired 14 markers and Cuttino Mobley added 14 in the win for the Michael Cooper-mentored team.
Hawkins paced Julius Erving’s Tri-State with 15 points while Jermaine O’Neal had a double-double of 14 markers and 11 boards.
In the classification games, Killer 3s finished fourth after beating Trilogy, 51-57, while Ball Hogs finished seventh at the expense of Ghost Ballers, 50-35.
Trilogy and Ghost Ballers ended up at No. 5 and No. 8, respectively.
Next week, 3’s Company and Power will battle for the second crown of rapper and actor Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
The post 3’s Company meets Power in BIG3 finals appeared first on The Manila Times Online.