TORONTO, ON (July 17, 2017) - Team Saskatoon put on a show for the home crowd at this weekend's FIBA 3x3 World Tour Masters stop, making an inspired run to the final and earning 2nd place at the event. World Tour reigning champions Ljubljana (SLO) won their first Masters of the season with a 21-14 victory in the final.

Team Saskatoon (Nolan Brudehl, Michael Lieffers, Michael Linklater, Steve Sir) went 2-0 in group play on Saturday and defeated Gurabo (Puerto Rico) 21-10 in the semifinals on Sunday afternoon. The squad is currently 5th in FIBA's 3x3 world rankings.

Team Hamilton (Vadim Halimov, Igor Lebov, Victor Raso, Sean Van Koughnett) was a late addition to the tournament, replacing Manta (ECU). The last-minute arrangements didn't seem to hinder the squad's performance, as they advanced all the way to the semifinals en route to a 4th place finish.  

Team Montreal (Sebastian Beckett, Kyle Desmarais, Kevin Loiselle, Mukiya William Rasi) and Team Winnipeg (Wyatt Anders, O'Neil Gordon, Matthew Koenig, Jelane Pryce) both finished 0-2 in group play on Saturday. The teams qualified via last weekend's 3x3 Canada Quest Finals in Edmonton, AB, with Montreal defeating Winnipeg 18-14 in the championship game.

The second Masters of the season will be staged in Utsunomiya, Japan on July 29-30 and feature Ljubljana (SLO) and Liman (SRB) alongside the World's Number 1 team Novi Sad Al Wahda (UAE).

FINAL STANDINGS
1. Ljubljana (SLO)
2. Saskatoon (CAN)
3. Gurabo (PUR)
4. Hamilton (CAN)
5. Liman (SRB)
6. NY Harlem (USA)
7. Princeton (USA)
8. Humpolec (CZE)
9. Hamamatsu (JPN)
10. Montreal (CAN)
11. Rio de Janeiro (BRA)
12. Winnipeg (CAN)

ABOUT FIBA 3x3
Exciting, urban and innovative, 3x3 is inspired by several forms of streetball played worldwide and is considered the world's number one urban team sport. Steered by FIBA, games see two teams of three players face off on a basketball half-court.

It was played successfully for the first time in international competition at the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and since then has benefited from the launch of a yearly city-based FIBA 3x3 World Tour (www.fiba.com/3x3worldtour) and national-team FIBA 3x3 World Cup. On June 9 2017, 3x3 was added to the Olympic Program, starting from the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Nike is FIBA 3x3's Founding Partner.

FIBA 3x3 events are played on Sport Court's floors with Schelde backstops and benefit from Wilson's innovative and specially-made ball for 3x3.

For further information about 3x3, visit fiba3x3.basketball, FIBA 3x3 accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube or contact 3x3@fiba.com.

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Matt Walker, mwalker@basketball.ca

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