India find Kiwis too fast to handle, bow out of Asia Cup 3x3 basketball

Nagpur: Young Indian cagers found the quick transitions of New Zealand too tough to handle, concluding their remarkable journey at the 3x3 Asia Cup basketball tournament with an 11-21 quarterfinal defeat in Singapore on Sunday.
Despite a positive start, where 67th-ranked India took an early 4-2 lead, the experienced and world No. 22 New Zealand came up with a series of two-pointers to regain the advantage. Once they found the rhythm, converting as many as four attempts from the arc, the Kiwis jumped to a six-point (10-6) lead.
Though Indian cagers fought back and reduced the margin to 8-10, the New Zealand shooting guard Zach Hannen fired all four points that he scored in the game — with a couple of two-pointers within 18 seconds — to stretch the lead (14-8) and snatch the game away from their young opponents.
For India, Arvind Muthu Krishnan top-scored with four points, while Harsh Dagar and Kushal Singh netted identical three points each. After winning the battle of rebounds 17-8, New Zealand converted 8 of their 14 attempts from the arc compared to India's 5 from 13.
India’s American head coach Scott Flemming was a happy man. Flemming said, “A great week in Singapore. I am proud of our young Indian 3x3 team. They showed they belonged with the best teams in Asia. It is always disappointing when you end with a loss, but because they are so young, they will be back with a goal to go even further. March was a good month for India basketball. Our national team qualified for the Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia with 2 wins in Bahrain, while our 3x3 team made it to the quarterfinals (4-2) with 3 wins over higher-ranked teams. Through it all, we learned many valuable lessons and grew closer as a team. Jai Hind!”
The Asia Cup was won by Australia with a 21-19 triumph over China after beating New Zealand 21-19 in the semifinals. New Zealand defeated Japan 21-18 to finish third.