Half-full upper bound in dimension three

Prove or disprove that NE3(n) ≤ n/2 for all sufficiently large n.

Background

The best known general upper bounds for the extendibility threshold in dimension three differ according to n modulo 4. The authors note that the true growth rate remains unclear and ask whether the stronger n/2 bound holds uniformly for all sufficiently large orders.

References

Question 3. Is NE3(n) 6 n/2 for all large n?

Extendibility of Latin Hypercuboids  (2502.08868 - Bowtell et al., 13 Feb 2025) in Question 3, Section 5.1, p. 8