Australia Win Third Straight Championship Gold
Australia have won their third consecutive FIBA U17 Oceania Championship title in Port Moresby.
PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea) - Australia have won their third consecutive FIBA U17 Oceania Championship title in Port Moresby.
Australia leapt out of the blocks early with an intensity from tip-off that New Zealand could not match at Sir John Guise Arena.
Both Australia and New Zealand qualified for the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024.
Roman Siulepa was a man on a mission, finishing with another double-double, 20 points and 10 rebounds while Jacob Furphy finished with 21 points and Jack Whitbourn joined the double-double club, 11 rebounds and 12 points.
New Zealand didn’t have the answers and Nash Walker said that winning gold was what the team came here to do.
“As a team we got better throughout the week, so it’s been good to get the result,” Walker said. “Coming into today’s game, we didn’t really know what to expect, we knew they had a few injuries, so we just needed to figure out how they wanted to play but we wanted to come out harder than earlier in the week.”
Nash Walker guiding the Emus to another Championship title
“People expect us to come out and win gold, but it’s never given out, we have to earn it and we put the hours in behind the scenes to get it done as a team.”
For the Junior Tall Blacks, an injured Nic Book came from the bench to finish with 11 points and 5 rebounds, while Tamatoa Isaac did what he could at the rim from both ends of the court to also finish with 5 rebounds.
Samoa defeated Guam to claim bronze, 132-63, at the FIBA U17 Oceania Championship earlier in the day, after a consistent week.
Guam came out firing in the first quarter, but a much-needed time out settled Samoa and they didn’t look back.
Samoa Captain, Semika Nee said the team’s performance was reflective of the work they have put in during the week and sticking to a solid game plan.
Samoa Captain, Semika Nee in action
“The game today was good, our coach gave us a good game plan and I just want to thank my teammates, it was a fun game today and the whole competition has been fun,” Nee said.
Elika Tutagalevao finished up with a massive 27 rebounds for Samoa, 20 of those defensive and 18 points for a double-double.
“Elika is a beast, I love having him on my side, he’s so funny but when it comes to game time, he knows how to lock in and having a guy like that on your team is great for us and terrible for the opposition,” Nee said.
“It will only be up for us now,” Nee said when asked about the future of this men’s basketball team. “We will continue to improve, we have come a long way, this team started from the bottom, and we are building up the best we can, I love everything about this team, it has been such a great experience representing our country.”
About the 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship
The 2023 FIBA U17 Oceania Championship were hosted by the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby at Sir John Guise Stadium from October 2 to 6. The Championships served as the first step in the qualification process to the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup. The top two placed teams, Australia and New Zealand have qualified for the 2024 FIBA U18 Asian Championships.