Day 3 of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup 2025

GB returned for Day 3 of the FIBA 3x3 World Cup on Wednesday, set to face Lithuania and Spain.

It was a challenging first day for GB in which they narrowly lost to the Netherlands as a result of a heartbreaking shot by Worthy de Jong, the world’s fifth-ranked 3x3 player, and then fell to Switzerland later on. However, they would take great pride in their performance against highly ranked 3x3 programmes, and had an opportunity to secure qualification to the next round with two wins on Day 3.

Lithuania VS Great Britain

GB faced Lithuania recently, in the Europe Cup Qualifiers, where Evaldas Džiaugys dominated a difficult match for Head Coach Afiz Olaniyan’s side, leading his country to a 21-14 victory.

Lithuania started well, going to the 6’9” big man Aurelijus Pukelis in the high post and using runners off him to find an open layup, behind the defence. Džiaugys then used his size to back down Ashley Hamilton and flip up a soft shot off the rim and in.

Hamilton came right back at Lithuania, smartly positioning his body to draw a charging foul to regain possession. Using his physical advantages, he dove to the basket and finished through contact, and then forced his way to the rim over the smaller defender in Titas Januševičius. Finally, he employed a devastating rip-through to leave his defender in the dust, jamming home an emphatic dunk.

Januševičius had a strong offensive game, scoring 11 points in total and making all of his six shots inside the arc. Darting off a dribble-handoff, he pulled up for a sweet midrange jumpshot. He then cashed in a two-pointer plus the foul to take the score to 6-3 in favour of Lithuania.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (DLO) refused to back down from Januševičius’s pressure, attacking him on the other end with a dynamic spin move. Later, a beautiful jab-step froze his defender, opening up the lane for an easy right-handed finish. Now with the hot hand, DLO splashed in a two-point shot after the ball fell to him from a broken play. 9-8 Lithuania.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye in action against Lithuania

Hamilton had three huge dunks in this fixture, one from a nice lobbed pass from Evan Walshe that left him free under the basket. Walshe had a fine game as well, finding ways to score through contact and impacting the match on the defensive end.

However, Pukelis’s playmaking proved significant, as his height allowed him to see over the defence and dish open shots to his teammates. Januševičius further continued his scoring streak, coming up to the top of the key of a pin-down screen to hit a two-point shot and then shrugging off DLO’s defensive pressure to stick a difficult layup.

DLO laced two shots from deep to keep GB within striking distance at 16-15, before executing a perfect pick-and-roll with Hamilton for the latter to cock back and slam home a thunderous dunk.

The game became somewhat disjointed towards its conclusion, which favoured Lithuania as they exploited the loose balls. After a nice spinning finish by DLO, Lithuania managed to succeed through the chaos and win the game.

Final Score: LTU 21 / GBR 18

Great Britain VS Spain

After the loss to Lithuania, GB were officially ruled out of contention for qualification from Pool D. However, with a competitive fixture against Spain to come, GB still had much to play for.

DLO got the game going with a step-back, midrange jumpshot from the baseline. DLO and Hamilton then attacked a retreating Spanish defence with a series of back-and-forth ‘hot potato’ style passes, before Hamilton finally finished with his right.

Spain responded through Iván Aurrecoechea, who used his body to bump Hamilton, generating space for a layup, and then spinning on DLO for another score. Guim Expósito expanded the Spanish lead to 4-6 with a two-point basket.

DLO led all scorers in this one with 12 points, converting from all three levels. He battled through contact early on to draw fouls and earn trips to the free throw line, and then rejected a Hamilton screen to rip across and blow by his defender. Walshe supported DLO’s early onslaught with an acrobatic layup, a free throw, and a charge taken, tying the game at 9-9.

This sparked another big run for GB, beginning with a Hamilton jab-step into a tough floater. DLO attacked the smaller Spanish defenders, connecting with a reverse layup, battling for offensive rebounds, and then lacing a deep through under significant duress. GB ran out to an 18-10 lead with time to spare.

Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye attacks off the pick-and-roll

Fouling cooled the GB offence down and provided an opportunity for Spain to work their way back into the game. Aurrecoechea faked a shot inside to get his defender off balance, laying in beside him. Then his offensive put-back cut the lead to 3.

With 18 seconds to go, Diego De Blas knocked down a moving two-point shot, bringing the score to 20-19. Avoiding a similar situation to what they suffered against the Netherlands, DLO did not hesitate, driving straight to the hole and hitting a spinning layup to seal the game

Final Score: GBR 21 / ESP 19

Although GB did not qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup, their performances across the board demonstrated their competitiveness with some of Europe’s top teams, and will provide a platform for the 3x3 programme to develop.