AUSTRALIA DEFEAT ARGENTINA TO OPEN 2018 ALBERT SCHWEITZER TOURNAMENT
While they will be undermanned for the entire tournament following the news of Kody Stattmann’s leg injury just prior to the team departing, Australia were able to spread the minutes around their ten-player roster evenly and eight hit the scoreboard.
Samson Froling and Alex Ducas set the tone early, knocking down three-pointers as Australia opened up a 7-0 lead but Argentina responded with a 15-2 run.
After going back and forth through the first few minutes, Australia had settled somewhat to lead by a point at quarter-time but it was the second term when they truly hit their straps.
Aiden Krause (21 points) came to the party, scoring seven in the period while Froling continued to hurt the opposition down low, getting inside for a couple of dunks and Ducas peppered the scoreboard with three more three-pointers before half-time.
That gave the Aussies a 15-point advantage at the main break and while Argentina were able to stem the flow in the third term, they were out-muscled on the glass as Callum Dalton (seven points, 12 rebounds), Kyle Bowen (nine points, seven rebounds) and Josh Gatbel (nine rebounds, two assists) joined Froling (13 points, ten rebounds, one steal, one block) to give Australia a 61-28 rebounding edge.
Hunter Goodrick (six points, two assists) also proved to be a threat from deep while Ducas maintained his stroke throughout the afternoon, scoring a team-high 22 points on 6-10 three-point shooting and 8-14 shooting overall.
Australia shot 39% from long range as a side and 43% from the field but will be keen to improve on their 13-23 mark from the free-throw line.
20 turnovers also gave Argentina the chance to reel in the deficit but ultimately, Australia balanced those errors with 18 assists while also doubling up Argentina’s tally of nine.
Check out the box score of the game here.
The Aussies sit on top of Group A after the first day of competition with the top four teams from Group A and Group B advancing to the Semi-Finals later in the week.
The official Albert Schweitzer Tournament website will stream every game and provide commentary once the competition hits the finals and you will be able to find links to all games here or here.
Australia are back on court tonight against Israel from 11.00pm AEST.
Australia’s Schedule for the 2018 Albert Schweitzer Tournament (all times AEST):
April 1: Australia vs. Israel at 11.00pm
April 2: Australia vs. Japan at 11.00pm
April 5: Australia vs. Germany at 4.00am
April 5: Australia vs. Turkey at 11.30pm
April 6: Semi-Finals and classification games
April 7: Medal Games and classification games
Basketball Australia
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