BROOKLYN – When the BIG3 tipped off its inaugural season last summer, they played their first games in Brooklyn. On Friday night, they returned to Barclays Center to crown its 2018 champion in front of 15,504 enthusiastic fans.
The top-seeded Power, displaying the dominance that made them the league’s best overall team all year, knocked off 3s Company, 51-43, to earn the Julius Erving Championship Trophy.
Power coach and legendary hoops trailblazer Nancy Lieberman, the first female to coach a mens professional sports team, finished her first season in the BIG3 with a title.
Power captain Corey Maggette scored 27 points while adding championship game MVP honors to his regular season MVP award.
Things got heated early on when a scuffle broke out, with both benches stepping into the fracas that was ignited by some physical play between Maggette and 3’s Company’s Dahntay Jones. Once calmer heads prevailed, the game resumed with Power leading 9-7.
From that point forward, they took control of the game by closing the first half on a 12-0 run. They led at halftime, 25-13, powered by Maggette’s 16 first half points.
Power vs 3’s Company Championship Game Full Highlights | Week 10 | BIG 3 Season 2
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The dominance continued from there as Power opened up the final period with 10-2 run. 3’s Company got within six points behind the stellar play of former Texas Tech star Andre Emmett, but with Lieberman’s squad sitting on point game, Cuttino Mobley knocked down a mid-range jumper to clinch the title.
Maggette led all scorers with 27 points and and added six rebounds. Emmett led 3s Company with 24 points.
The Power finished up with a league-best record of 9-1.
Whatever drama that seemed to be missing in the championship game was definitely provided in the evening’s earlier consolation game, where 3-Headed Monsters beat Tri-State, 52-49.
Despite having to play without rebounding machine Reggie Evans, the 3-Headed Monsters took an early 18-10 lead. But Tri-States Amare Stoudemire, the recipient of some of the loudest cheers in the building thanks to his days as a New York Knick, turned up the juice, scoring 16 of his squad’s first 20 points.
The 3-Headed Monsters were ahead 26-24 at halftime and the rest of the game was a back-and-forth slug fest. Tri-State seemed to be in control toward the end, leading 47-44. But that’s when one of the greatest scoring talents the game of basketball has ever seen, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, took matters into his own hands.
His layup made the score 47-46, then he banged a 3-pointer gave the Monsters a 49-47 lead. Stoudemire made a layup of his own to tie the game at 49, before Abdul-Rauf knocked down his fourth 3-pointer of the game for the win.
3 Headed Monsters vs Tri-State Third-Place Game Full Highlights | Week 10 | BIG 3 Season 2
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Abdul-Rauf led all scorers with 28 points and Qyntel Woods added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Stoudemire led Tri-State with 22 points. The 3-Headed Monsters finished with the BIG#’s second-best record of 8-2.
When Ice Cube initially announced the launching of the BIG3, many were skeptical of its growth potential. But judging from its growing fan base,the fan turnout this season and improved television ratings, along with an excellent product and talent roster, the BIG3 looks poised to get even bigger and better in the very near future.
