FIBA U17 - Vasiljevic, Humphries lead Australia into last four

DUBAI (FIBA U17 World Championship) - Australia moved within a step of returning to the Final as the Oceania powers dominated Puerto Rico, 76-52, to reach the Semi-Finals of the 2014 FIBA U17 World Championship.

Dejan Vasiljevic scored 19 of his 21 points in the first half to go with 13 rebounds while Isaac Humphries had 14 of his 16 points after the break along with 11 rebounds to lead Australia.

The Aussies, who lost to the United States in the Final of the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship, will take on the winners of the last Quarter-Final between France and Spain in Friday's Semi-Finals.

Puerto Rico, who got 18 points and nine rebounds from Araldo Toro, will square off against the loser of that European clash in the Classification Games 5-8.

Vasiljevic had tallied 17 points on 6 of 26 shooting in his last two games after hitting 41 points in his first two contests. But he nailed his first three three-pointers in scoring 11 points in the first quarter alone, with the team scoring the last eight points of the period for a 23-12 lead.

Australia got production from a number of players in the second quarter as the cushion grew to as many as 17 points, 38-21. It was 41-26 at the break.

Puerto Rico worked hard to get back into the game and a three-ball from Toro trimmed the deficit to 46-38.

But Australia got a strong effort from Humphries in after the break as the big man scored nine points in the third quarter period and the team used an 11-2 run to open a 57-40 cushion.

Heading into the final frame up 57-44, Australia pushed the gap up to 20 points before Puerto Rico got it back to 64-51, but that's as close as they would get.

FIBA