Trilogy, 3 Headed Monsters clash for inaugural BIG3 crown
TRILOGY and 3 Headed Monsters cruised to the championship round as they beat their respective foes in the semifinals of the BIG3 3- on- 3 basketball league at the KeyArena in Seattle, Washington on Sunday (Monday in Manila).
The undefeated Trilogy turned on its offense down the stretch to score a 50-39 comeback victory over Ghost Ballers.
Mike Bibby and Ricky Davis pushed the Ghost Ballers to as much as a nine-point lead in the second half.
But the unbeaten top seed coasted to a blazing 18-2 run to close out the game.
Rashad McCants finished with a gamehigh 19 points in 32 minutes of play while Al Harrington added 14 markers for Trilogy.
Davis led Ghost Ballers with 15 points on 4- of- 11 shooting from the field and Ivan Johnson contributed 11 markers on top of six rebounds.
3 Headed Monsters leaned on Rashard Lewis’ heroics as they downed Power, 50-46, to secure the first finals berth.
With the game tied at 46- all, Lewis banked in back- to- back baskets in front of his former home crowd.
The ex- Seattle Supersonic pumped in 21 points to go with nine rebounds while he got ample support from Mahmoud Abdul- Rauf, who came up with 16 markers and nine boards.
DeShawn Stevenson tallied 14 points highlighted by two triples while Cuttino Mobley posted a double-double of 13 markers and 11 rebounds for Power.
Meanwhile, 3s Company and Ball Hogs ended their campaign in the inaugural season on a winning note.
3s Company leaned on Al Thornton and Andre Owens as it edged out TriState, 51-48, to wound up on fifth place.
Thornton came through with 24 points while Owens notched a doubledouble of 16 markers and 11 rebounds for the Allen Iverson-coached team.
Lee Nailon scored 18 points and Mike James had 17 markers in a losing cause.
Ball Hogs avoided a last place finish at the expense of Killer 3s, 52-46.
Derrick Byars fired a team- best 21 points while Xavier Silas chipped in 13 markers and eight rebounds for Ball Hogs.
Stephen Jackson drilled in 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting clip to go with six rebounds but his stellar numbers were not enough to lift the Killer 3s.
Trilogy and 3 Headed Monsters battle for the first BIG3 trophy even as Ghost Ballers and Power clash for the third place next week at the MGM Grand Arena Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.