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- Can't have closer losses than that
What happened
Both losses decided by 1 point! Princeton went 1-2 in their 3 games at the Penang Challenger tournament, splitting their two pool play games and then losing in the quarter finals to Utsunomiya. Fribourg, who they lost to by 1 point in pool play, went on to win the tournament.
fiba3×3.com
The quarter-final game against Utsunomiya (#13) was a nail-bitter. Princeton was down for most of the game, but came all the way back to lead 20-19, including a stretch where Austin Butler scored 5 straight points. Ultimately Princeton fell just short as Utsunomiya made back to back buckets to win 21-20.
Quick Takes
📈 Princeton losing in the quarter finals means…
Princeton still securely at 15th and didn’t lose any ground on 12th place San Juan Church who didn’t make it out of pool play.
🔭 Riley’s Range - attempted more 2s in Penang
Riley Grigsby shot attempts:
Hongcheon: 28 1FGA, 10 2FGA (2FGA Rate: 0.26)
Penang: 6 1FGA, 14 2FGA (2FGA Rate: 0.70)
🚪 Princeton backdoor can’t be stopped!
Everyone knows it’s going to happen, but it’s so hard to defend when its executed this well.
Spotlight // Austin Butler
Austin Butler delivered an outstanding all-around performance for Princeton, nearly leading them to victory in a hard-fought 21-20 loss to Utsunomiya. Butler stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 8 points on efficient 3/5 shooting from 2-point range and 2/2 from the line, along with 2 rebounds, 1 block, 2 drives, and a player value of 11. He made his presence felt early, recording a block and defensive board on the same possession to keep the game knotted at 4-4. But Butler saved his best for last, scoring all 8 of his points in a furious rally over the final 4:31. His 2-pointers trimmed the deficit to 13-9 and 15-14, while a 1-pointer in between made it 15-12. Butler's brilliant effort fell just short, but his clutch scoring and defensive impact gave Princeton a chance until the final buzzer.
Around the League
It was a mixed bag of results for US teams this past weekend between the Marseille Masters and Penang Challenger events. NY Harlem made it to the Penang finals losing to Fribourg while Miami played in the Marseille Masters losing in the quarter finals to Podgorica.
Princeton 3×3 competes at the highest level of FIBA 3×3 basketball. Each season is comprised of Masters and Challenger tournaments. There are more Challenger tournaments throughout the season and they offer a qualification path for teams to play in Masters tournaments. Masters tournaments have larger cash prizes and reward more points to move up the leaderboard.
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