AMMAN (Jordan) - Jacob Furphy starred as Australia turned back Lebanon, 78-46, to stay perfect in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024, Tuesday at the Prince Hamza Hall.
The 1.93 M (6'4") guard fired 28 points as he produced the most points by an Aussie in the competition, six clear of the previous mark set by Kyle Bowen in 2018.
He produced 10 of his points in just the second chapter, helping ensure that the efforts of teammates Jack Whitbourn, Dash Daniels, and Mason Honeyman in pulling the Emus from a tepid start in the opening quarter would not go for naught.
Australia saw themselves trailing by seven early in the match, but the troika powered a telling 15-2 run to conclude the first frame owning a 19-13 lead.
Then came Furphy and the others in the ensuing period, and the title-seeking squad would be back to their old selves en route to their second win in as many games.
Goc Malual supplied 12 points and 7 rebounds. Honeyman had 10 while Whitbourn made 6 points and 13 rebounds as the Emus took the provisional lead in Group A.
Anthony Naba, on the other hand, finished with 15 points while Karl Zamatta added 12 for the Lebanese, which fell to 1-1 in the pool following the loss.
Breaking through in the win column, meanwhile, were Chinese Taipei following their masterful 92-46 victory over the still-winless Mongolia.
Jayden Jones led the pack with 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Huang Han-Sheng and Liu Geng-Hao supplied 16 and 14 points, respectively as the trio spearheaded the solid bounce-back from a loss to Lebanon on opening day.
Clearly motivated to pick themselves up from that 97-75 defeat, Chinese Taipei zoomed to a 22-6 lead in the first 12 minutes and never let up since.
All 12 players scored in the win, with their spread-out offense thanks to 26 assists plus their effort on the defensive end, which saw them rack up 19 steals.
Leading Mongolia in the defeat, which dragged them down to 0-2, were Temuujin Enkhbat and Tuvshinjargal Gantulga with 10 points apiece.
FIBA