The Dutch 3×3 basketball men were eliminated in the intermediate round at the World Cup in Mongolia on Friday. Germany was too strong with 19-18 for the Olympic champion, partly because a feat by Worthy de Jong failed this time.
Orange was leading 16-10 with two minutes to play and seemed to be heading for a place in the last eight. But the production of the Dutch trio stalled and the Germans came alongside in the final phase.
With a little over four seconds on the clock, the game was stopped at a score of 19-18 for Germany, after which the Netherlands requested a time-out. De Jong took the floor and gave his teammates instructions.
After the break, De Jong got the ball himself and he was looking for a similar scenario as during the Olympic Games and earlier at this World Cup. Then a leading role was reserved for him with a winning point in the last seconds.
De Jong sought out the side, dodged his German opponent and aimed for a distance shot. But where his shot in Paris yielded gold, his shot in Ulaanbaatar stranded on the ring. And so this time the Germans could celebrate a small party.
Women’s team does reach quarter-finals
The men were condemned to the intermediate round because the Olympic champion had lost to Switzerland in the group stage.
Earlier in the day, the women reached the last eight. The Dutch 3×3 basketball players were clearly too strong for Hungary with 21-9 in the intermediate round. Australia is Oranje’s opponent in the quarter-finals.