The University Politehnica team won the four-day tournament held in Debrecen from July 12-15.
On July 12, the first day of the competition, the Romanian men’s national team made its debut against one of the host teams, Szechenyi Istvan University, with a score of 21-9. It was a strong start for the quartet made up of Amedeo Casale, Nicolae Ciucă, Bobe Nicolescu, and Marius Ciotlăuș, all players in Romania’s National Basketball League.
The semifinal match, however, promised to be even tougher. University Politehnica faced Vytautas Magnus University, a team composed of Lithuanian players who have represented their country in the Nations League, a circuit dedicated to players under 23 years old. Riding high after the quarterfinal win, the Romanian team defeated the powerful Lithuanian team 21-18, securing a place in the final.
In the final match against University of Ljubljana from Slovenia, neither team could pull ahead. It was tied at 16-16, and with a minute and a half remaining, the score became 18-16 in favor of Slovenia. From that point on, the Slovenians didn’t score again. Ciotlăuș tied the game with two drives, and the final basket of the tournament came from Nicolae Ciucă with 25 seconds left. The University of Ljubljana attempted a two-point shot but missed, and they did not foul during Romania’s final possession. With just two seconds left, the Slovenians took one last shot, hitting only the rim, and University Politehnica became the European Universities Champion in 3×3 Basketball.
The 24 teams were divided into four groups, and the Romanian men’s team won all its games on July 13, reaching 21 points in every match, even 22 in one. The day began with a 21-19 victory against University of Aveiro from Portugal, followed by a 21-15 win over Sumy State University from Ukraine, and a final match score of 22-15 against University of Pristina.
With an undefeated record in the first four group games, University Politehnica secured a spot in the knockout rounds. The team’s only loss came in the last group match, 20-21 against University of Valencia. In the round of 16, the Romanian team got its revenge against another Spanish team, University of Girona, with a 21-17 win.
Comeback in Overtime
One of the most thrilling games was the quarterfinal, won by the Romanian team in overtime, 22-20, after Nantes University from France led 19-16 and 20-18. Nantes’ 20th point came on a powerful slam dunk, which seemed to end Romania’s run. The French team even had two free throws to seal the game, but both were missed. The Romanian team capitalized on this, and Marius Ciotlăuș tied the game with a dramatic alley-oop with 12 seconds left. In the first action of overtime, Amedeo Casale calmly drained a two-pointer from beyond the arc, securing victory for University Politehnica.
In the final match against University of Ljubljana, both teams struggled to create a gap. With 16-16 on the scoreboard and a minute and a half left, the Slovenians pulled ahead to 18-16, but failed to score again. Ciotlăuș tied the game, and Nicolae Ciucă scored the game-winning basket with 25 seconds remaining. Ljubljana’s final two-pointer missed, and Romania dribbled out the clock to become the European Universities Champions.
The women’s team finished the group stage with one loss and was eliminated in the quarterfinals by University of Valencia, 12-14. Valencia later lost the final to Riga Stradins University from Latvia. Andreea Mititelu, Carla Popescu, Ioana Ghizilă, and Teodora Manea represented University Politehnica in the competition.
