BANGKOK (Thailand) – Serbia (men) and Canada (women) win against the Netherlands and Spain respectively to win the FIBA 3×3 Champions Cup 2025 on March 16.
The men’s side of the tournament culminated with a huge tie between Serbia and the Netherlands, a matchup guaranteed to deliver fireworks.
The highly-touted battle started off hot with early buckets from both the Serbians and the Dutch. Worthy de Jong was flowing early with his sublime drives setting the pace for his side. The Serbians kept answering back though, with Marko Brankovic and Stefan Milivojevic steadying the ship.
The Dutch had momentum in their favor as they took an 11 – 8 lead with over 2 minutes to go. Their veteran opposition did not let up though, as they regained the lead through Milivojevic. It was his turn to takeover in the last moments of the game with a huge two and key foul-drawing.
With 38 seconds to go, Serbia held the lead at 16 – 14. A huge two from Worthy tied things up but a subsequent foul took Serbia to the free throw line yet again. They made one of two which would prove to be enough. Serbia would earn Gold at the Champions Cup with a thrilling 17 – 16 win over the Dutch.
On the women’s side, it came down to a battle between the two on-fire sides in the tournament in Canada and Spain. It was a testy start between the two unbeaten sides, proving to be the physical matchup it was purported to be.
An inside battle early on, the likes of Cecilia Muhate and Saicha Grant Allen notched early points for their sides. Both teams went back-and-forth on the scoreline, with little separating them for the majority of the game.
It was a free-flowing offensive display from two well-matched nations. With time winding down, Canada started to pull ahead thanks to timely buckets from Grant-Allen and Katherine Plouffe. They held a 2-point advantage after a last-gasp effort from Spain went falling by the wayside.
The Canadians picked up a 15 – 13 victory to claim the first-ever gold in the 3×3 Champions Cup.
In the bronze medal games, Australia (women) came out victors in a tightly-contested matchup against Germany. A late bucket from Hannah Hank was the go-ahead winner that earned the Aussies Bronze.
On the men’s side, Australia and the United States had yet another blockbuster affair that saw the Aussies emerge victorious yet again. A high-octane matchup found itself tied right down to the wire. A late foul from team USA put the Aussies on the line with scores at 20 apiece. John Dillon Stith put the game to bed from behind the line as the Gangurrus took home two Bronze medals at the 3×3 Champions Cup.
Serbia’s Stefan Milivojevic was the team’s offensive engine all tournament. He notched 36 points in their 5 games, including a whopping 10 points in the final against the Netherlands. His clutch buckets down the stretch on the final day earned him MVP plaudits. He leads the men’s Team of the Tournament alongside Worthy de Jong (NED) who was his usual stellar self on the Dutch’s way to silver and Alex Higgins-Titsha who was a two-way star for the Aussies as his contributions proved to be key on their way to Bronze.
Canada’s Saicha Grant-Allen was immense for her side as her presence in the paint paid dividends on both ends of the game. Her 32 points and tournament-high 40.7 player value earned her MVP honors. She would be joined by Cecilia Muhate (Spain) and Miela Goodchild (Australia), who led their sides to silver and bronze respectively, in the women’s team of the tournament.
Mens standings
- Serbia
- Netherlands
- Australia
- United States
- France
- Austria
- Madagascar
- Thailand
Women’s standings
- Canada
- Spain
- Australia
- Germany
- Thailand
- China
- France
- Madagascar
