Hosts NYC Fury Win 1st Annual WTA Tourney

Thanks to all the teams and fans who came out to play and support FBNYC's 1st Annual Winner Take All 3-on-3 Asian Basketball Tournament. We hope all the participants had as much fun playing as we did running the tourney. MLK HS was buzzing with anticipation and competitive spirit from the first tip-off.

This event is just the first of many we have planned for the future, so stay tuned. Thanks again to all the teams and organizations for their support. SPECIAL THANKS go out to Mr. Choi's grocery and Larry Chow and Maximum Output for all their help and moral support.

Big ups also go to Coach Jake, Bertram Gay, Steve Mobley, JerseyRack and Trophy World. Also, Tony Hu and the Cruisers, Mo Ghunman, Mark Lee from CK Sports and Sung and Andre from the DL for help getting the word out. Forgive us if we've forgotten to mention anyone, all your help was much appreciated.

Here are the results...

ELITE DIVISION

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Though every team was able to make the playoffs, only (5 seed) Below the Rim, (3) Team SDR, 2) Maximum Output and host team (1) NYC Fury made it through to the Semi-Finals. Team SDR managed to upset the previously undefeated Max Out and the Fury (also undefeated) handled Below the Rim.

ELITE DIVISION Champs, NYC Fury (L to R) Rich Chang, John Foss, James Choi, Chris Youn, Harris Chung

The Finals became a showdown between two big and versatile teams but ultimately, Team SDR, with captain (G) Shawn Delos Reyes hobbled by an ankle injury, was outpaced by (C) John Foss and the Fury. NFY jumped out to an early lead thanks to Foss' low-post prowess which better enabled the play-making ability of (F) Chris Youn and (G) James Choi. (F) Harris Chung was solid in his defense of All-Tourney Team (F) Nic Echevestre. The Fury never relinquished that lead despite solid efforts from Delos Reyes, Echevestre and their big man.

ELITE DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

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Both Maximum Output and the NYC Fury finished pool play undefeated but MXO, led by Asian tourney circuit Hall-of-Famer (G) Oak Nguyen, (C) Darrington Okeruly and (F) Alex Stewart were upset in the Semis by pre-tournament favorites Team SDR. NYF cruised through pool play, facing their toughest challenges in the playoffs, though no opposing team in any game managed to score more than 20 pts.

Below the Rim (G) Jon Scheiman nearly single-handedly lifted his team to the Semis with an array of knee-crunching cross-overs, 3-pt bombs and dazzling dimes. The Asphalt Ninjas with street nice backcourt (G) Wilson Lew and (G) Bang Takenouchi were also a tough out.

Although perennial favorites, the NY Cruisers (back-to-back winners of the Chinatown Summer 3-on-3) struggled in pool play despite a roster of Asian league All-Stars, (F) Tony Hu, (C) George Chan, (G) Stan Yeung and (F) Joe Kim. Still, they're never an easy out and this tourney was no exception.

First round exits NYC-Queens led by (G) Muhammad Begawala and Team WW headed by captain (F) William Wang both struggled as relatively new teams 3-on-3 circuit (including a 31-2 loss by Team WW at the hands of Team SDR) but both showed signs of promise, particularly NYC-Queens' surprising yet solid win over the NY Cruisers.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Elite Division
Harris Chung (NFY)
Nic Echevestre (SDR)
John Foss (NFY)
Jon Scheiman (BTR)
Alex Stewart (MXO)

Thanks go out to all participating teams: Asphalt Ninjas, Below the Rim, The Cruisers, Maximum Output, NYC Fury, NYC-Queens, Team SDR, Team WW

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION

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Unfortunately, the INTERMEDIATE Finals were cut short due to unforeseen circumstances. Finalists (8) Hypebeasts and (3) Team Jason Chan relunctantly agreed to split the prize and the trophies. We can't say enough how much we regret the outcome and we will take steps in the future to prevent any such repeat occurrences.

INTERMEDIATE DIVISION HIGHLIGHTS

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The 8th seed Hypebeasts led by All-Tourney (G) Ian Yu, (G) Leon Chu and (C) Howard Chu struggled during pool play but managed to upset (1) Initial D--who had previously beaten HYP on a buzzer-beating 3FG by (G) Austin Han--by getting to the paint with a variety of spins, cuts, cross-overs and post-ups.

Veteran (F) Young Yu was big from the perimeter for the D and he and Han were mad bombers throughout the tournament, Han earning himself an All-Tourney anointment for theatrics.

FBNYC "B" league finalists, (5) G.o.D., rode back-to-back game-clinching 3FGs (the 2nd at the buzzer) by (F) Johnny Lam to a 2-1 pool record. They were able to upset the (G) Kwok Fung-led (4) Villains after Fung dismantled the NYC Fogey in the final pool play game. Lam's last-second heroics and Fung's prowess from deep (not to mention some freeze-frame cross-overs) earned both players a selection to All-Tourney.

In the end, it was Team Jason Chan, led by lightning-bug-quick All-Tourney (G) Jack Ma, coming off a tough win over a much larger Maximum Output team--with 6-7 (C) Jeremy Ko and All-Tourney 6-3 (F) Jason Yee--who defeated GOD to reach the Finals; and the Hypebeasts who overcame a tough Base NYC All-Stars team (the only other team besides Initial D to finish pool play undefeated) led by All-Tourney (F) Min Park, (F) Victor Chia and (G) Henry Jun.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Intermediate Division
Austin Han (INI)
Kwok Fung (VIL)
Johnny Lam (GOD)
Steve Liu (RED)
Jack Ma (CHA)
Min Park (BNY)
Jason Yee (MXO)
Ian Yu (HYP)

For the full set of TOURNAMENT PHOTOS click here.

Thanks go out to all participating teams: Base NYC All-Stars, Team CU, G.o.D., The Hypebeasts, Initial D, Team Jason Chan, Maximum Output, NYC Fogey, The Redeemers, The Villains