Four Otago students have qualified for the 3x3 basketball university world league finals.
The University of Otago won nine consecutive games to claim victory at the national tertiary championships in Auckland.
National representative Josh Aitcheson combined with Darcy Knox, Samson Aruwa and Matt Bardsley to form a strong team, coached by Mitchell Langton.
After losing 16-8 to Auckland in its first game, the side won its seven other round-robin games.
A 21-13 semifinal win over Waikato followed, before a 21-16 win in its rematch with Auckland in the final.
The win avenged the loss in last year's final to Auckland.
Langton said the team had a better awareness of how to play the 3x3 game this year.
''As a team we were committed and we put everything in.
''It wasn't an individual effort where one person took over.
''Everyone worked super hard for the whole game and locked in.
''I think a big mistake of last year was assuming that the 5x5 game would correlate to the 3x3.
''We were completely wrong on that, so we've put a lot more time and effort into it this year and it definitely pays off seeing how the 3x3 game is a lot different.''
It qualifies the side for the University World Cup in Xiamen, China.
