Statement Win for London 3x3 in Singapore

London 3x3 bounce back in style with a nail-biting victory over highly ranked Skyliners.

With a top three finish required to qualify for the Malaga Masters, London arrived in Singapore with the same unchanged lineup that competed in Athens. Their biggest test of Pool B came immediately against Skyliners.

London started with intensity and intent as Evan Walshe traded buckets with Kevin Bryant before Veron Eze drove hard to the basket and converted through contact to put London ahead by 4 points to 2. Joe Buchanan then knocked down his first jumper of the game to add two more to London’s tally and stretch the early advantage 4 before Skyliners could settle into the contest.

Bryant continued to keep the favourites’ scoreboard moving, but Buchanan struck again before Ashley Hamilton registered the first of his nine points to extend London’s advantage to 8-3.

Hamilton followed up with a two pointer as London’s commanding start pushed the score to 10-3. Despite a thunderous dunk from Hamilton as London continued to apply pressure, Skyliners gradually began to find opportunities of their own. They worked their way back into contention and briefly took the lead at 14-13.

The closing stages became a test of London’s composure. Two huge two pointers from Walshe and Hamilton arrived at exactly the right moments and proved enough to get London over the line with a 21-20 victory. London’s composure was particularly impressive in comparison with their opponents, recovering from a 20-18 deficit to edge ahead at the death and secure a statement win.

London’s final Pool B game came against Caloocan, who had already handed Skyliners their second tough defeat of the tournament. Once again, London meant business from the opening exchanges as Veron Eze announced their intentions with an emphatic two handed flush. London never looked fazed during the matchup, with their poise and control proving impossible for the Filipino side to disrupt. Having quickly settled into London’s system, Buchanan continued to produce highlights of his own, including a huge rejection at the rim that sent the offensive player stumbling backwards.

The British side ultimately proved too much to contain and Buchanan fittingly brought the contest to an end by sinking the winning two pointer, completing a dominant 22-9 victory and sending London through to the knockout stages unbeaten.

London finally came unstuck in the quarterfinals against a physical Hangzhou side. Despite another bright start from the British team, Haotian Wang sank three two pointers to build what proved to be an insurmountable advantage for the Chinese side. London continued to battle, but they were unable to reel their opponents back in as Hangzhou pulled away to secure a 21-13 victory. There were still several highlights for London, including another collection of powerful dunks from Ashley Hamilton.

Despite the quarterfinal defeat, London can take plenty of positives from Singapore. Their fifth place finish was their best of the season so far, while they came only narrowly short of securing a qualifying spot for a Masters event.