AMMAN (Jordan) - To say that it was a masterful performance may sound like an understatement with the way Australia balled out on Monday night.
Totally dominant right from the beginning, the Emus outclassed New Zealand, 96-33, to conquer the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 at the Prince Hamza Hall.
Behind inspired showings from nearly everyone, the Aussies sprinted to a big lead and refused to slow down as this batch made sure to bring back the gold that the program last won during their maiden stint back in 2018 - against the same team.
Now, they have ruled the continental youth showpiece for the second time in as many appearances following a mighty six-game sweep of the tournament.
Game heroes: A total of five players finished in double figures in the rout, with Jacob Furphy leading the pack with 21 points and 7 rebounds for an efficiency of 24.
Emmett Adair supplied 19 points and 5 rebounds. Nash Walker went a perfect 4-for-4 from deep for 12 points, while Luke Fennell and Che Brogan added 11 and 10 points, respectively, as all but two players scored at least 4 points in the victory.
Turning point: Adair and Furphy sparked the 14-1 run to help Australia build a 24-8 lead to end the first quarter, and that's all that they needed to set the tone for the romp as their rivals could not find any sense of rhythm the rest of the night.
In fact, the Junior Tall Blacks only breached double-digit scoring at the 8:23-mark of the second chapter, courtesy of a Kahu Treacher bucket inside.
Stats don't lie: A team that takes pride on its defense, Australia held an offensively potent team like New Zealand to just a measly 11-of-57 clip from the floor. The squad forced their counterparts to 19 turnovers as well, and turned it into 33 points.
Furthermore, they ruled the boards, 57-30. Eighteen of those were collected on the offensive end, and most of it led to 25 second-chance points.
They said: "I thought we've tried to establish our defense all tournament, I think we did that again tonight. The boys bought into the scout ... New Zealand is one of our rivals, and we knew they were gonna give us everything they have. We made some shots early but again, I think it was all behind our defense. We're proud of the boys. They came in and have done a tremendous job coming together as a group, playing together and playing the right way." - Robbie McKinlay, Head Coach, Australia
"It shows huge testaments to what Basketball Australia is doing, and the Centre of Excellence as well, which is where I am at the moment. I think that program is really starting to lift and show that we are a basketball nation. I think for our group, we have some really exciting times coming forward." - Jacob Furphy, Guard, Australia
"Obviously, Australia played really well and outplayed us today. Credit to them, to their coaching staff, and to their team. They had a great week. We came up short at a number of areas. But looking at the week, and looking at it as a whole, I think we can be really proud of the way that we conducted ourselves and played." - Matt Lacey, Head Coach, New Zealand
"Australia had a good game. Credit to them. Still, really proud of the boys for getting through this week, through all the challenges that we've had. We just have to take the learnings from this, get better for the World Cup." - Carter Hopoi, New Zealand
FIBA