Australia’s Under-19 Men’s team, The Emus, held off Argentina 76-65 this afternoon to set up a thrilling clash with Croatia tomorrow at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship for Men in Auckland, New Zealand.

The gritty performance announced the Emus as legitimate title contenders ahead of their meeting with fellow challenger Croatia. Only the USA, Croatia and Australia have unblemished records and the game tomorrow will decide which team will finish the Eighth Finals on top of the group and advance to the Quarter Finals with a more favourable match-up.

The Emus rattled Argentina in the opening quarter as the lead blew out to 19 points and managed to hold off the attacking Argentines for an 11-point win.

The Emus swarming defence created a mountain of problems for the South American team from the tip off.

Australia’s hustle created ample opportunities in the opening minutes letting the Emus jump out to a 9-2 lead before Argentina called timeout. Both coaches rang in the changes but Argentina still could not buy a basket as Australia went on an unanswered 14-0 run.

The Emus shot 8-of-10 from the field in the opening term and were so dominant that Argentina did not grab a defensive rebound until the final minute of the first quarter when they began to find their feet. The Emus were on top by 16 points at quarter time, 25-9.

The shots continued to come easily as the Aussie guards pushed up into the lanes before Argentina changed up their defence with a three-quarter press and dropped into a zone to try and halt the Australian onslaught.

The lead was cut from 26 points back to 19 when Emus Head Coach Marty Clarke called the Emus to the bench urging his players to stay focussed and play with precision.

Argentina started to fight their way back into the game and when Matias Nocedal checked in and drained two treys in 60 seconds the lead was back to11 points.

The third quarter was all Argentina as they fought back within six points of the Emus.

Argentina was composed throughout the term and turned the tables on Australia with defensive hustle, collapsing on Australian penetration in the paint and lighting up from outside. While the Emus’ shots started rimming out they stayed ahead thanks to their pinpoint accuracy from the free throw line, converting 12-of-13 attempts for the game.

Taking a six point lead into the final term, 60-54, the Emus brought back their trademark hustle keeping Argentina scoreless until nearly three minutes into the quarter.

The Emus desperate defence in the final minutes made the difference as Argentina tried and failed to bridge the six point gap.

A Cody Ellis three put the game out of reach for Argentina and when Brock Motum iced the game with a one-handed jam the Aussie crowd jumped to their feet ready for the next challenge.

On the back of a tremendous all-round effort from the Emus Motum, Ellis and guard Jason Cadee shared the top-scoring honours with 16 points apiece.

“We started really well and executed how we wanted to,” Cadee said.

“We knew they were always going to make a run and they came out and did that, they hit some tough shots and got back in the game. Overall I think we did well to hold out that game... We’re improving every game.”

The Emus and Croatia will do battle at 3.00pm tomorrow AEST. You can follow the game with LIVE STATS.

In an earlier game Croatia continued their undefeated run by crushing Spain 91-72 while New Zealand recorded their first win of the tournament over Angola 62-54 and Iran beat Syria 93-53.

[Box Score]

Quarter by quarter:
1: AUST 25 ARG 9
H: AUST 48 ARG 35   (23-26)
3: AUST 60 ARG 54   (12-19)
F: AUST 76 ARG 65   (16-11)

AUSTRALIA 76 (Brock Motum 16, Jason Cadee 16, Cody Ellis 16) bt
ARGENTINA 65 (Luciano Gonzalez 14, Matias Nocedal 9, Federico Glinberg 8, Andres Landoni 8)

At North Shore Events Centre, Auckland, New Zealand

Article from Basketball Australia
Photo from KANGAROO Photo