BOCAUE — Dejan Majstorovic nailed the game-winning long bomb from the top of the arc to keep Serbia’s three-peat dreams alive with a 21-19 escape over Poland Tuesday in the 2018 Fiba 3x3 World Cup at Philippine Arena.
Majstorovic, the No. 1 3x3 player in the world, beat the buzzer and nailed the off-the-glass two-pointer to propel the Serbians back in the men’s finals.
The win capped off a big fightback from Serbia, which stared at a six-point deficit, 13-7, midway through the match.
But Dusan Bulut willed his team back and set up the frantic finish, much to the delight of the fans inside the world’s largest indoor arena.
Dulut finished with nine points, Majstorovic added six points, while Marko Savic scored five.
That win set up the rematch of last year’s finals as Netherlands also moved on to the championship round.
The Dutch escaped another tough challenge from Slovenia and pulled off the 21-16 win in their own semifinal clash.
Dimeo Van der Horst nailed a big two-pointer to put Netherlands up, 20-16, before Aron Roije buried the 15-footer for the win as the Dutch once again got the better of the Slovenians.
Jesper Jobse paced Netherlands with nine points, while Roije got six.
The scores:
First Game
Serbia 21 — Bulut 9, Majstorovic 6, Savic 5, Stojacic 1.
Poland 19 — Hicks 6, Pawlowski 5, Rduch 4, Sroka 4.
Second Game
Netherlands 21 — Jobse 9, Roije 6, Van der Horst 4, van Vilsteren 2.
Slovenia 16 — Ovnik 7, Finzgar 4, Srebovt 4, Kavgic 1.