Lincoln University’s basketball sides will be hoping to secure another ticket to China at the national 3X3 basketball tertiary championships in Auckland, which start on Friday.
The winners of the two-day event will be on the plane in November to the world 3X3 champs, held in China since 2017, a trip made by the LU women for the last two years. The men’s side missed out in 2018 but had their passports stamped in 2017.
Manager Hoani Smith said while the women’s opposition remained a bit of a mystery the men would face strong challenges from last year’s winner Auckland. Otago University looms as a big threat too.
Both sides feature a mix of experience and newcomers. The women’s side has Aijah Pepe and Connie Poletti, both in China in 2018, with the addition of Rosaila Samia and Lucy Brown.
Aijah, Connie and Rosaila are all part of the Canterbury Wildcats 5X5 basketball side, with Rosila also a New Zealand U17 volleyball and basketball representative.
Men’s captain Josiah Williams was in China in 2017 and is joined by Ben Hall, Patrick Neill and Panashe Nyashanu. Panashe missed the whole of last season with a broken finger after a dunk went wrong.
Hoani said the sides were working on their fitness as they did not have the size the other sides would probably bring to court, so the plan was to move the bigger players around the court.
The teams have had a better preparation time than before and with the experience of two world championships already behind them the management team was hoping the road to China would be a smooth one.