The Australian Emus have cruised to an 82-60 victory against the Philippines in their first classification game of the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.
Bouncing back from the disappointment of their Round of 16 loss, the Emus never looked troubled against the Philippines after they began the game with an 11-0 run. Sam Froling got things underway with an alley-oop to Kody Stattmann (11 points, two steals) and Alex Ducas scored a quick three points after being inserted into the starting line-up. Froling also hit his first three shots, tallying seven points for the quarter, and that paced eight Aussies on the scoreboard as they took a 12-point lead into the first break.
A couple of three's from Sean MacDonald (ten points, four assists) kept the pressure on the Philippines in the second term as he became the first player into double-digits. Froling (13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, four steals, two blocks) then showed off his own aerial talents, proving he is just as impressive taking it himself as he is distributing with a nice reverse dunk. The Emus took their foot off the pedal slightly down the stretch towards half-time, allowing the Philippines to go on a 7-0 run but Tyler Robertson (ten points) broke the streak with a three to give Australia a 19-point cushion.
Australia consolidated the victory in the second half, going on to win every quarter while a late three-pointer from Callum Dalton (three points, eight rebounds, two steals) ensured all 12 Emus got on the scoreboard. They tallied 24 assists as a team and their dominance on the glass saw them finish with a 50-33 rebound edge as well as a 42-18 differential in points in the paint. "We started the game well at both ends of the floor and established a good tempo," said Emus coach Darren Perry. "It's important to respond with a good win after a significant loss and we'll now look to build on this to take into tomorrow' game." Find the box score here and watch the replay on YouTube here.
The Emus now await the results from tonight's remaining games to find out their opponent for the penultimate classification game of this year's tournament. The Australian Emus Schedule for the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup (all times AEST): June 29: Emus def. by Canada 76-81 June 30: Emus def. Latvia 81-52 July 3: Emus def. Mali 82-79 July 4: Round of 16- Emus def. by Lithuania 74-91 July 5: Classification Game- Emus def. Philippines 82-60 July 6: Classification Game July 7: Classification Game
