Hawks hold off Sixers

Updated October 16, 2011 21:49:27

Wollongong triumphed 97-89 at home in a neck-and-neck NBL clash with Adelaide on Sunday afternoon.

Sixers guard Chris Warren nailed four three-pointers on his way to a game-high 25 points while team-mate Mitchell Creek went 7-of-9, 2-of-2 from long range, in an 18-point performance.

But that was not enough to curtail the Hawks' shooters.

Oscar Forman, Rhys Martin and Mat Campbell had 16 apiece for the home side, with Forman adding 11 rebounds and Martin nine assists.

Only one point separated the teams after the first quarter with Wollongong trailing, but the hosts hit back to take a six-point advantage into half-time.

The 36ers prevailed in the championship quarter and enjoyed a four-point buffer coming into the final period but Wollongong was just too strong.

Blaze bettered

In Sunday's late clash, the Blaze let Cairns Taipans off the hook and fell to a 91-82 loss on the Gold Coast.

The home side led by six points with under five minutes to play before the Taipans rattled off a 17-2 run to snatch ascendancy.

Cairns guard Andrew Warren led all scorers with 28, including five-of-seven from three-point land, while team-mates Dusty Rychart (14), Brad Hill (13) and Jamar Wilson (13) also contributed strongly.

Gold Coast used a 30-point second term to take a three-point lead into half-time but slipped to train by a point with a period to go.

The Taipans turned on the offensive heat though, their massive run sparked by a Rychart two-pointer followed by a pair of Warren three-pointers that sandwiched another Rychart two-ball.

Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, wollongong-2500, nsw, adelaide-5000, sa, australia

First posted October 16, 2011 19:19:37

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Boomers hand China a thrashing

Updated August 17, 2011 06:36:33

The Australian men's basketball team opened the London International Basketball Invitational with a convincing 71-43 thrashing of China on Tuesday to continue their tune-up before the 2012 London Olympics.

Playing in the first ever game of international basketball held in the newly built London Basketball Arena in Olympic Park, the Boomers were well served by Townsville Crocodiles forward Peter Crawford who top-scored with 15 points.

David Barlow added 14 points for Australia, while AJ Ogilvy finished with 11.

Despite fielding one of the more competitive teams that China has put on the floor in some time, which included Washington Wizards NBA power forward Yi Jianlian, Australia were always in control.

The Chinese side seemed out of sorts early as the Boomers set about breaking out to an early lead, which the stretched to 32-19 at the half.

The second half saw more of the same action, with Australia continuing to attack before running away with the 28-point win, while also outrebounding the tall Chinese team 43-26.

And they did it without having to call on star playmaker Patty Mills who, like team-mates Joe Ingles, Aleks Maric and Brad Newley, took no part in the game.

"I'm trying to avoid playing our key players in three consecutive games," Boomers head coach Brett Brown explained.

"I'm trying to have those guys peak both on the court and physically in the build-up to September 7 and the New Zealand series, so it's a little bit of a trick trying to balance that out with seven games in 11 days.

"I thought that it was as good an effort defensively that we've played. The guards were excellent, particularly on the rebounding."

The Boomers will face a much sterner test tomorrow when they face France, one of the tournament heavyweights, who boast NBA stars Joakim Noah, Tony Parker and Nicholas Batum.

Coach Brown said he would rest Mark Worthington and the impressive Damian Martin, who picked up a team-high six assists and seven rebounds against China, for the clash.

Brown said the biggest issue would be keeping the team in top shape despite the heavy workload in London, in preparation for the FIBA Oceania Championship against New Zealand which tips off in Melbourne on September 7 and could see them qualify for the London games.

"That's probably going to be the greatest mission over the next nine days: just making sure we build towards September 7," he continued.

"We have to be smart with it and you cant take your eye off the ball.

"You want to win games and you can't fall into that trap of being complacent. It's a long process and we've got to be smart, and in doing that, you simply can't overlook that physical side."

AAP

Tags: basketball, sport, england, china, australia

First posted August 17, 2011 06:26:17

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Interview: Adam Ballinger

This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.

AEDT = Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time which is 11 hours ahead of UTC (Greenwich Mean Time)

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Mills takes on the Croatian defence

Australia's Patty Mills takes on Croatia's Dontaye Dominic Draper at the London Invitational tournament in London, England on August 18, 2011 (Getty Images: Julian Finney)

Tags: basketball, sport, england, united-kingdom

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Boomers follow Opals to London

Updated September 09, 2011 22:26:24

Australia's men's basketball team has joined the women at the London Olympics with a series-clinching 81-64 victory over New Zealand in Brisbane.

While the Opals qualified with a reasonably comfortable 19-point win, the Boomers needed a huge final quarter to post a 17-point victory in their game two at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

"We've worked a long time for this and every since we went to Beijing I know it's a massive focus for us to get back to this point and it feels pretty good," skipper Matthew Nielsen told Grandstand.

"New Zealand is a tough team and we've played a lot of good European teams in the last two months, and no one's competed with us like they have.

"It's credit to them and good luck to them."

Trailing by two points at the end of the third quarter and the game in the balance, the Boomers men dug deep in every facet of the game - rebounding, scoring and defence - to see off the stubborn Tall Blacks.

They limited New Zealand to just 10 points for the final term - the bulk of which came after Australia's sensational 23-3 run which secured passage to London in the most emphatic style.

Boomer Brad Newley top-scored for his side with 12 points.

But much of the fourth quarter energy came from centre Aleks Maric, who poured in seven of his nine points in the term along with three vital boards.

"We don't rely on anyone on every night, which is a good thing going into a game," Nielsen said.

"Because you know someone can have an off night and it's not going to affect your team."

Boomers coach Brett Brown was ecstatic with the evenness of his side's effort as it lifted when it needed to.

"We did it by committee, we did it with a team, it was a true team effort," he said.

"We've got depth, we've got toughness, we did it with our defence and our defence generated our offence in that (fourth) period.

"To finally close the deal and get it done is a fantastic accomplishment."

New Zealand skipper Kirk Penney led the way for his side with 17 points.

The Tall Blacks were not helped with starters Tom Abercrombie and Mika Vukona fouling out early in the fourth term, leaving the visitors undermanned and outmatched at the most crucial time.

"At the end of it, it seemed we just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter," New Zealand forward Casey Frank said.

"When you lose two of your three best players, with a handicap like that it's always going to be difficult for us."

The Tall Blacks also lost guard Corey Webster prior to game one after Basketball New Zealand called him home after confirmation he returned a positive drugs test during an NBL game last season.

Both Australian teams have now qualified for next year's Games, regardless of the results in game three in Sydney on Sunday.

New Zealand's teams have a second chance to qualify for London through worldwide repechage tournaments to be held next year.

ABC/AAP

Tags: basketball, sport, brisbane-4000, qld, australia, new-zealand

First posted September 09, 2011 22:04:06

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Blaze scorch Wildcats

Updated November 12, 2011 22:26:36

New Gold Coast import Adris Deleon inspired the Blaze to a 107-92 NBL annihilation of competition favourite Perth on Saturday night.

Playing in front of his new home crowd, Deleon exploded to life with 21 points - 18 in the first half - that included eight assists, five rebounds, a steal and an incredible block against Matt Knight despite giving away 25cm in height.

Where Deleon provided the flash, Anthony Petrie (19 points, six rebounds) offered the grit for the Blaze just 10 days after fearing he had re-injured the Achilles tendon that cost him all of last season.

Gold Coast's Australian representative Mark Worthington (22 points) finished as the game's top scorer as well as holding Boomers team-mate Shawn Redhage to just 10 points in an intriguing battle.

For Perth, big men Knight (18 points) and Luke Nevill (22) were damaging in the paint, while NBL player of the month Kevin Lisch bagged 19 points.

Gold Coast took an early 16-13 advantage, but it was the Wildcats who went to the first change ahead after a five-point run to close the quarter.

The Blaze streaked away early in the second term with five quick-fire points from Worthington and a key block on Jesse Wagstaff.

Wildcat Drew Williamson's frustrations with Deleon led to a heavy unsportsmanlike foul, with the import calmly slotting the free throws.

Seconds later he dropped another triple to give the Blaze a 14-point lead.

Nevill and Knight engineered a seven-point Perth run to cut the lead to five.

But it was Deleon again who broke Perth's momentum with a slick dish off to Chris Goulding, with his three-pointer giving the Blaze a 55-49 half-time lead.

The lead ballooned to 14 as James Harvey piled on eight quick points - including the basket that made him just the fourth player in NBL history to reach 5,000 points - and young guns Jason Cadee and Goulding hit three-pointers.

Petrie then hit a buzzer-beating triple to close the third term which pushed the lead out to 15, a mountain too large to climb for Perth.

AAP

Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, broadbeach-4218, qld, perth-6000, wa, australia

First posted November 12, 2011 21:51:00

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Tigers bounce back to edge Hawks

Updated October 30, 2011 22:00:25

Patty Mills and Ayinde Ubaka shot the lights out from downtown as Melbourne came back to trump the Hawks 82-74 in Wollongong.

Boomers and Portland NBA point guard Mills hit four three-pointers and went 7-for-13 from the floor as the Tigers consolidated their spot in the top half of the competition.

He was ably assisted by Ubaka (14 points, 4-of-6 from downtown), Daniel Dillion (13) and Cameron Tragardh (12).

But Melbourne had to battle back from a dismal opening quarter that saw the Hawks race out to a 27-15 advantage by the first break.

The Tigers trailed by 10 at half-time after a low-scoring second period but then turned the deficit into a one-point lead.

Ubaka's long-range accuracy arrived at the right time as the journeyman guard dropped three from outside the arc in the final quarter to ice the win for Melbourne.

Joevan Catron had 18 for Wollongong but missed all four of his shot attempts from downtown, while Hawks stars Rhys Martin (six on 3-of-8 shooting) and Oscar Forman (seven, 3-of-8) both struggled on the night.

Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, wollongong-2500, nsw, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted October 30, 2011 21:42:23

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