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SINGAPORE \u2013 Love was in the air as New Zealand secured a historic triumph in the Fiba 3×3 Asia Cup men\u2019s competition after beating South Korea 21-15 on April 5, as men\u2019s Most Valuable Player David Lewis gave a shoutout to his fiancee Aroha after the win.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old, who scored a game-high 10 points in the final, was close to tears when he told The Straits Times that they became engaged on Feb 13. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s made a lot of sacrifices for me to be able to be here, pretty much being a single mum while I\u2019m gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so blessed. She inspires me, she works so hard and she\u2019s got her hand in a lot of things. Being able to go home with the gold, its really satisfying, and it means I\u2019m not doing work for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Around 8,000 fans had packed The Kallang\u2019s OCBC Square across five days of competition \u2013 the event will move to Mongolia after being staged in Singapore for five years \u2013 and many more were peering out of the Kallang Wave Mall\u2019s second-storey food court terrace to catch a glimpse of the knockout rounds on the final day.<\/p>\n
In 3X3, which is played on a half-court, every made basket inside the arc is worth one point, and every successful shot behind the arc is worth two. The first team to score 21 points, or the side with more points at the end of the single 10-minute period, win.<\/p>\n
And the supporters were not disappointed with the fast, furious, and physical action, with South Korea\u2019s Lee Ju-yeong sustaining a cut lip following a stray elbow in their 18-15 win over the Philippines in their men\u2019s quarter-final earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old was sent to hospital and he missed his team\u2019s 21-15 win over China in the semi-finals but rushed back to play in the final and contribute three points before returning to the hospital for stitches.<\/p>\n
Still bleeding post-match but savouring his nation\u2019s first medal in the tournament, he shared that he was also feeling the love as he watched his teammates hold up his jersey in his honour before the semi-final, which they slogged out with the minimum quota of three players.<\/p>\n
He said via a translator: \u201cI watched the match on my phone and I was crying. I returned for the final when I could because I wanted to contribute even in a small way. We never expected to reach the final, and we want the gold medal next.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the day belonged to New Zealand, who were more clinical from range to finally secure their first men\u2019s title after losing in the 2017 and 2022 finals. They also reached the semi-finals in the three previous editions and claimed bronze in 2023 and 2025.<\/p>\n
MVP Lewis credited their new philosophy and \u201csticking to our system\u201d, and said: \u201cWe play defence, shoot twos, and win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s tournament, even with an entirely different team from the one who won in 2025, Australia romped to a fourth straight success to extend their record to six titles in nine editions by outclassing the Philippines 18-9 in the final.<\/p>\n
But they had to survive a scare when they turned a 14-20 deficit in their semi-final against China into a 22-20 win on the back of three two-pointers by Amy Atwell, while teammate Kristy Wallace was named MVP.<\/p>\n
In the final, they blew out the Philippines, who did well to bounce back after returning empty-handed from the 2025 SEA Games for a historic Asia Cup medal.<\/p>\n
Atwell said: \u201cIt just goes to show how much heart this group has. Never once did we doubt ourselves, we just kept fighting. It was my teammates\u2019 defence and passing that gave me open looks and I just did the easy part.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis win also shows how much depth that we have, with this being a whole new group, and we wanted to come here and carry on the legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Singapore\u2019s first appearance in the women\u2019s quarter-finals ended with a battling 16-12 defeat by top seeds China, after the hosts qualified by mixing a 19-16 win over Chinese Taipei with a 21-11 loss to Japan on April 3.<\/p>\n
The men\u2019s team missed out on the knockout rounds after losing 20-16 to Japan and 21-19 to South Korea in the pool stage.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the April 11-12 Fiba 3×3 World Cup qualifiers at the same venue, Singapore national 3×3 coach Lazar Rasic said: \u201cWe are improving, our style is good, and we need to lose this kind of games so that we learn how to win the next time. We need to be stable through the whole 10 minutes and to stick to the strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will give our best to try to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in history. If not, it will still be a big learning experience for us because we want to play the big teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
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