Australia stun Argentina in the fourth quarter to pull off a 78-59 win and qualify for the semifinals in the 2012 FIBA Under 17 Championship for Men
After struggling to stay in the game for most of the first three quarters, Australia pulled of a remarkable fourth quarter stretch to rout Argentina 78-59, and book a place in the semifinals of the 2012 FIBA Under 17 Championship for Men, being played in Kaunas, Lithuania.
The Aussies will now play the winners of the last quarterfinal between Croatia and the Czech Republic.
Australia were paced by a 23 point performance from Dante Exum. The shooting guard went 9 of 16 from the floor and was followed by 12 points from Benjamin Simmons.
The Argentineans were dominant in the first half. They led by 11-6 inside the first four minutes and went on to build a 26-18 lead nearly midway through the second. The Australians however came back into the game and reduced the deficit to four at the end of the first half, scores being 30-26.
The Aussies continued to press on after the interval and with 7:21 to go in the third, a jumper from Exum squared the scores at 34 apiece.
Australia remained within a striking distance for the next three minutes or so and with 3:42 to go, finally took a 47-45 lead on a three point effort from Matt Jackson. The game remained tight in the ensuing passage, with both teams entering the last 10 minutes at 53 each.
Going into the last quarter, it appeared that the game would go right down to the wire, but the reality turned out to be the complete opposite of that.
With 6:04 remaining on the clock, the Aussies led by 57-54, before launching a 21-5 avalanche that swept the Argentineans. The Argentines managed just six points in the frame with three coming inside the last minute when the game was already lost.
They were led by Gabriel Deck with 19 points and 14 from Alvaro Merlo, and will now take on the losing quarterfinalist from the Croatia- Czech Republic game in the second game for the 4-8 qualification, due to be played tomorrow.
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