Let’s do it
all over again! Australia put together a magical comeback to beat Spain in
overtime and will square off against the United States in Saturday's Final of
the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship after the two-time reigning undefeated
champions were given a real fight against Serbia before prevailing.
The Aussies
and Americans battled in the 2012 FIBA U17 Worlds final with the USA winning
95-62 for a second crown.
 |
| Top: Team USA celebrates after defeating Serbia. Bottom: Australia mounts a late rally to pull the rug from under Spain. |
SCORES & RECAPS:
Day Six:
AUSTRALIA over
SPAIN, 80-74
Tom Wilson had
two lay-ups after steals in the final 35 seconds as the Aussies scored the
final eight points in the last two minutes of regulation to force the extra
session. Isaac Humphries led the way again for Australia with 22 points, 8
rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals. Wilson had 13 points and 11
rebounds, while Dejan Vasiljevic scored 14 points and Harry Frohling had a
dozen. Spain committed seven of its 12 turnovers in the final seven minutes of
the game and will face off against Serbia in the Third-Place game, which will
be a repeat of the 2013 U16 European Championship Final that Spain won in
overtime. Jaume Sorolla had 15 points to lead Spain.
USA over
SERBIA, 89-68
The USA took
advantage of its depth to wear down Serbia and reach the Final, moving within a
win away of their third straight title. The final score was not indicative of
how hard the two-time undefeated reigning champs had to work to get the
victory. Four Americans scored in double-figures, led by 15 points from Malik
Newman while Harry Giles collected 10 points and 12 rebounds for the USA.
Nikola Rakicevic paced the Serbs with 19 points while Stefan Peno had 18
points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds and Vojislav Stojanovic also had 18. The
Americans led by just 3 at the half, but their depth began to show in the third
quarter as Serbia got worn down, making just 5 of 19 shots in the period.
PUERTO RICO
over FRANCE, 70-63
Puerto Rico
overhauled a small halftime deficit to beat France and move on to the battle
for fifth place. Arnaldo Toro outplayed Stephane Gombauld in the battle of the
bigs. Toro tallied 21 points, 18 rebounds, 1 steal, and a block to lead the
Puerto Ricans to their fifth win in six games. Gombauld dropped 17 markers and
11 boards as France was relegated to the battle for seventh spot.
CANADA over CHINA,
92-81
China was
within striking distance of Canada for much of this game, but the latter just
proved to be too strong. Eddie Ekiyor anchored Canada’s interior with 21
points, 9 rebounds, and 2 steals, while Marquell Fraser added 18 markers, 6
boards, and 4 thefts. China, meanwhile, was paced by the 25 points of Zhao
Yanhao, while Hu Jinqiu and Fu Hao paired up for 34 points and 14 caroms.
ARGENTINA over
GREECE, 65-54
Maximo
Fjellerup recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for
Argentina, and that was enough to propel his team to victory. Greece's Vasilis
Charalampopoulos scored 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, but he was the lone
bright spot for the team. They shot just 35 percent from the floor and 21
percent from deep.
ITALY over
ANGOLA, 77-71
The Italians
took down Angola despite shooting just 39 percent from the field and 32 percent
from three-point territory. Angola, on the other hand, shot a blistering 47
percent from downtown. Angola was hurt by free-throw shooting, making just 54
percent from the charity stripe in the 6-point loss. Andrea Pecchia had 16
points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals, and 3 assists for the Azzurri, while Silvio De
Sousa paced Angola with 17 markers, 10 boards, and 2 dimes.
EGYPT over
PHILIPPINES, 92-67
In its second
game without star guard Jolo Mendoza, the Philippines couldn't get past Egypt.
Egyptian big man Ahmed Khalaf served as an impenetrable wall on defense,
grabbing 13 rebounds and blocking 4 shots to go along with his 19 points and
assists. Undersized frontliner Mike Nieto did drop 20 points for the
Philippines, but it was not nearly enough. Batang Gilas is now relegated to
fighting for 15th place against host team, UAE.
JAPAN over
UAE, 91-49
Hayato Maki
led the Japanese to an emphatic win, racking up 24 points, 4 rebounds and an
assist. His team shot 51 percent from the floor and 43 percent from deep,
compared to 36 and 29 percent, respectively, for the Emirates. Neither team
shot well from the free-throw line, though. Shockingly, Japan shot just 44
percent, while the opposition hit 53 percent. Rashed Mohammad paced the home
squad with 16 markers, 5 boards, and 3 swipes in the loss. Kengo Muto also had
a great outing for Team Hayabusa, stroking in 5 treys on his way to 17 points.
Recaps were adapted from Bleacher
Report.
Images are from FIBA.
0 Comment