Crocs survive Kiwis in a Final to remember
DOHA (Qatar) - Australia survives New Zealand's upset bid, 79-76, to keep FIBA U16 Asian Championship winning streak alive in a Final to remember.
DOHA (Qatar) - Australia survives New Zealand's upset bid, 79-76, to keep FIBA U16 Asian Championship winning streak alive in a Final to remember.
The Crocs met their match in the Kiwis, who were the first team in the competition this year to hold a lead over Australia and did so for nearly 19 minutes of the game. New Zealand rode the wave of a magnificent performance from Hayden Jones, son of the legendary Phill Jones, who scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Dash Daniels put Australia up for good in the final moments of the game. The 1.90M (6'3") guard finished the game as Australia's leading scorer with 17 points to go with 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal.
Australia went up by as much as 6 points with less than 3 minutes to go in the game, but New Zealand never gave up even until the final seconds. Hayden Jones cut the lead back down to just one point in the final minute and New Zealand even had a good attempt at a game-tying layup, but Lachlan Crate was unable to convert.
The victory rewards Australia with their third consecutive FIBA U16 Asian Championship title. They are the second team to ever since three straight titles, joining China who won from 2009 to 2013. They are also tied with China for most U16 Asian Championship titles with 3 in total.
Standout Player: Even though, Nash Walker was not the leading scorer in this game for Australia, he certainly scored the loudest points. His three-pointer to quickly tie the game at 69-69 when New Zealand were able to build up another run kept Australia in the game and another three-pointer to give the Crocs a 77-71 lead kept his team ahead.
Turning Point: Defense wins championships. Just as Hayden Jones was making a drive to potentially take the lead in the final moments for New Zealand, Ryder Cheesman stay focused, stuck out his chest, and cleanly took the ball out of the Kiwi's rising stars's hands.
Stats Don't Lie: The lead changed hands for a total of 17 times in this game. It's never easy to quantify how exciting a game is, but this is one of the better statistics to refer to. And it certainly was one of the most entertaining Final ever in the history of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship.
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