The Australian Under 19 Men’s team, the Emus, beat host nation Spain 79-70 in the first game of the pre-Worlds Tournament in Caceres, Spain tonight.
Patrick Mills top scored for Australia with 18 points with strong contributions coming from Chris Goulding with 12 points, Ben Dowdell with 11 points and Andrew Ogilvy with 10 points.
The Spanish started the game strongly and surged to an 18 - 6 lead before the Emus steadied and slowly clawed their way back to be down 18 -16 at quarter time.
The second quarter was a fairly even contest with coach Marty Clarke rotating his players in an effort to maintain control of the game tempo in oppressive heat, Spain holding a 36 – 33 halftime lead.
The Emus started the second half with both aggressive defence and fluent offence and midway through the third term had opened up a good lead.
Despite the valiant effort of the Spanish to regain control of the game tempo, the Emus were able to finish the third quarter 58–49 ahead.
The Australians were able to maintain their composure as the Spanish side changed defenses in the final quarter in an effort to unsettle the Emus. However the Aussies were able to withstand the added pressure and went on to record an excellent win 79-70.
Coach Marty Clarke was very pleased with the result, commenting “there was excellent contributions from all players under testing conditions."
“It was an encouraging result first up," Assistant Coach Damian Cotter said.
"However, we still have to work hard to become more consistent with our execution throughout the entire game".
Shannon Seebohm was unable to play due an stomach virus but is expected to ready to play in the next game (v China).
Prior to the game the captain and vice captains for the Pre Worlds and world Championship were announced with Patrick Mills selected as captain and Chris Goulding the vice captain.
Australia 79 Mills 19, Goulding 12, Dowdell 11, Ogilvy 10, Jackson 8 defeated
Spain 70
Patrick Mills top scored for Australia with 18 points with strong contributions coming from Chris Goulding with 12 points, Ben Dowdell with 11 points and Andrew Ogilvy with 10 points.
The Spanish started the game strongly and surged to an 18 - 6 lead before the Emus steadied and slowly clawed their way back to be down 18 -16 at quarter time.
The second quarter was a fairly even contest with coach Marty Clarke rotating his players in an effort to maintain control of the game tempo in oppressive heat, Spain holding a 36 – 33 halftime lead.
The Emus started the second half with both aggressive defence and fluent offence and midway through the third term had opened up a good lead.
Despite the valiant effort of the Spanish to regain control of the game tempo, the Emus were able to finish the third quarter 58–49 ahead.
The Australians were able to maintain their composure as the Spanish side changed defenses in the final quarter in an effort to unsettle the Emus. However the Aussies were able to withstand the added pressure and went on to record an excellent win 79-70.
Coach Marty Clarke was very pleased with the result, commenting “there was excellent contributions from all players under testing conditions."
“It was an encouraging result first up," Assistant Coach Damian Cotter said.
"However, we still have to work hard to become more consistent with our execution throughout the entire game".
Shannon Seebohm was unable to play due an stomach virus but is expected to ready to play in the next game (v China).
Prior to the game the captain and vice captains for the Pre Worlds and world Championship were announced with Patrick Mills selected as captain and Chris Goulding the vice captain.
Australia 79 Mills 19, Goulding 12, Dowdell 11, Ogilvy 10, Jackson 8 defeated
Spain 70
I never really understood the concept of tri-captains in Team USA.
Someone please explain? Can´t they just choose one captain and one vice captain?