It was the second to last round of 3×3.EXE action, meaning there was limited time to climb the be crowned Champions.
View the full 3X3.EXE ladder at nz.basketball/3×3/3×3-exe-premier/3×3-exe-ladder/
Northern Men’s Competition – Round 7
The first stop of the weekend was Auckland for the Northern Men’s competition. Starting off with Coasties.EXE taking out top spot of Pool A with convincing wins over Wave.EXE 21-7 and HIAP.EXE 21-13. HIAP and Wave competed for the second playoff spot in the pool but Wave fell short by five points 16-21. Coasties, who are fourth on the overall ladder had been given an opportunity to score some big points and climb the ladder.
Pool B featured the top three teams on the ladder, so it was bound to be a competitive path to the Playoffs. Scam.EXE managed to hold off Stingrays.EXE by one point, with the final score being 21-20. Stingrays beat Swish.EXE 22-14 to knock them out of Playoff contention for the first time. This is the first time Swish has missed out on the Grand Final game of a round, let alone the Playoffs. Scam put the icing on the cake, beating Swish in a close battle 21-20. Stingrays and Scam move onto the Playoffs.
Coasties faced Stingrays in the first Semi-Final, and couldn’t follow up from their pool play success, losing 21-15, while Scam put HIAP on skates in their 21-7 thrashing. It came down to the Grand Final, Stingrays vs Scam. Stingrays had played in the Grand Final twice this year, only winning once, while Scam had entered three times, only winning once. Scam went on to win 21-16 and kept their second place sitting on the ladder secure for another week, but also opening up the opportunity for Stingrays to overtake next week.
- Round 7 Winners – Scam.EXE (beat Stingrays.EXE 21-16 in finals)
- Northern Men’s MVP, Round 7 – Ana Haku
- Round 7 Results & Team lists: CLICK HERE
- Re-watch the games at: BBNZ TV
Southern Men’s Competition – Round 7
Finishing the weekend was the Sothern Men’s Competition. Pool A featured an exciting matchup of Rams.EXE vs Gators.EXE, which Rams won 21-17. Rams also breezed past UC Gold.EXE 21-10 taking them straight to the Playoffs. Gators also managed to beat UC Gold 21-17 to take second spot in the Playoffs for Pool A.
Pool B was UC Maroon’s for the taking, as they beat both Crossover.EXE 22-14 and Wharenui.EXE 22-12. UC Maroon who were sitting top of the table were looking for their fifth win of the season, having only missed the Grand Final once. Wharenui.EXE cleaned up against Crossover and took the second spot in the Playoffs for Pool B.
The Playoff bracket was all lined up and jumped straight into the Semi-Finals. Rams made it hard for themselves to progress to the Grand Finals with Wharenui making it hard for them. In the end, Rams managed to pull away and take the win 21-19. UC Maroon had a repeat of last week’s Grand Final, beating Gators 21-15 and progressing swiftly through to the Grand Final. Rams and UC Maroon made it a close game, but UC Maroon kept ahead for the majority of the game and closed the game out 22-19
- Round 7 Winners – UC Maroon.EXE (beat Rams.EXE 22-19 in finals)
- Southern Men’s MVP, Round 7 – Aidan Tonge
- Round 7 Results & Team lists: CLICK HERE
- Re-watch the games at: BBNZ TV
