MIAMI (USA) - The FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held in Graz, Austria this past weekend, and teams from the Americas region were well represented at the tournament.

"We had a fantastic event in Graz which is a testimony to how important and inspiring 3x3 basketball is to develop our game at all levels. We are so proud of our 5 national teams that represented our region (Americas) in this event", said the Executive Director of FIBA in the Americas region Mr. Carlos Alves.

The USA women’s basketball 3x3 squad is ready to continue their country’s tradition of basketball excellence as they qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. In dominating fashion, USA with Kelsey Plum, Alisha Gray, Stefanie Dolson and Katie Lou Samuelson, in their marquee matchup vs. France, prevailed 21-17 in what could be a preview of an Olympic showdown.

Uruguay (15) had a tough first day play against Germany (9) and France (1) in pool A which was considered a difficult women’s group. Uruguayans Sabina Bello, Aldana Gayoso, Victoria Pereyra and Florencia Somma hit the court on day two and played much better, but Indonesia and the United States took the victory.

On the men’s side, the ninth-seeded Brazilians got off to a great start in Pool A play dominating Turkey (16) 21-6 and getting past the Czech Republic (17) 21-14. Two days later, Andre’ Ferros, Jonatas Mello, Jefferson Socas and Fabricio Verissimo took on Poland (8) in an memorable pool’s game where the Brazilians lost by one point (13-12).

Looking to secure their place in the Quarterfinals, Brazil had the tough task of facing top-seeded Mongolia. Using balanced scoring and not relying on the two-point shot, Brazil stunned the 3x3 world by beating Mongolia 18-10 and punching their ticket to the qualifiers knockout round. Verissimo led the way with six-points as Brazil got things done on the defensive side out rebounding the top seed 18-14 and forcing eight turnovers to secure the win.

France (6) used 10-points from Antoine Eito to put an end to Brazil’s epic run at the event with final scores of 21-19. Brazil served notice to the 3x3 world that they were just as competitive and talented as any of their opponents. Ferros led Brazil in scoring for the tournament with 32-points in five games.

The other three Americas region squads on the men’s side also performed well at the event. The 18th seeded Dominican Republic showed their skill and that promise of bigger things to come. Bryant Piantini, Cesar Reyes, Carlos Rivera and Henry Valdez laid the groundwork at home for basketball’s newest passion.

In their last game of the tournament, a matchup with four-seed Slovenia, Reyes poured in 14-points on 5-9 from behind the two-point line to pace the as they pulled off one of the competitions biggest upsets 21-17.

Canada faced off against Austria in hopes to advance to the quarter-finals to conclude pool play. However, the strong Austrian team defeated the Canadians 19-16. Alex Johnson was Canada’s tournament leader as he filled up the score sheet with a 7 point game-high. Canada finished the tournament 2-2.

The United States, after winning the 2019 FIBA 3x3 World Cup led by MVP Robbie Hummel, came into the Olympic qualifiers shorthanded as Canyon Barry was unable to make the trip, but Joey King took full advantage of that opportunity hitting the game winning shot versus Lithuania (7) to start things off in exciting fashion 21-20 for USA.

The second-seeded Americans then ran past South Korea (15) 21-3 and edged Kazakhstan 21-19.

Joey King’s leadership was not enough as Belgium (10) handed USA their first loss 21-16. Despite the loss, USA advanced to the quarterfinals where they would face the tournament's third seeded Netherlands. The Netherlands pulled away for a 21-16 win securing a spot for the Dutch nation at the Tokyo Olympics.

FIBA