Perfect Gangurrus start in Glasgow

The Australian Gangurrus have made the perfect start to their campaign in the 3x3 tournament at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games with three opening day wins with Sam McDaniel, Jonah Antonio, Jesse Wagstaff and Jarred Bairstow all shining in their own way.

The Gangurrus opened up the tournament at the Commonwealth Games beating New Zealand in the very first game on Friday 21-15 before backing up with the 21-15 victory against Nigeria, and wrapping up with the 21-14 win against the host nation Scotland.

It's a foursome with strong NBL connections representing Australia in Glasgow and across the three wins McDaniel scored 22 points with 15 rebounds and five key assists as he prepares for another season at the Brisbane Bullets where he'll be hoping for a clear run on the injury front.

Antonio is currently playing in the NBL1 West at the East Perth Eagles alongside David Okwera and Lat Mayen and top scored with 24 points while going 10/21 shooting from the outside.

Wagstaff is the games record holder at the Perth Wildcats and locked in for another season in NBL27 and had 11 points over the three matches with 12 rebounds.

Bairstow has just been named to the All-First Team for his NBL1 North season at the Brisbane Capitals and over the three games in Glasgow had six points with seven rebounds and three key assists.

In that first game for Australia against New Zealand, they worked on top after scores were tied 8-8 starting with a score inside to Bairstow before Antonio hit from beyond the arc. When he hit another the Gangurrus were leading 14-9.

It was then Antonio who sealed the deal with his third two-pointer of the game to finish with eight points as did McDaniel in the 21-15 win.

Next up and the Gangurrus took on Nigeria and again two early shots from deep by Antonio gave them the good start to be leading 5-3 only to find themselves trailing 12-11 following a score from Ike Nwamu by Nigeria.

McDaniel responded with a pair two-pointers before Antonio then made two of his own that set Australia on course to again win 21-15 with Antonio scoring 12 points with 6/10 shooting from the outside.

Last up and Australia faced the hosts Scotland making a strong 6-2 start and remained on top the rest of the way before completing the deal when Wagstaff scored on an offensive rebound for the winning bucket with 1:48 left on the clock.

McDaniel led the way in that win over Scotland with 10 points for the Gangurrus with Wagstaff collecting eight rebounds.

The women's team was also in action across three games on the opening day's action in Glasgow and went on to beat Kenya 21-5, Jamaica 21-13 and Fiji 21-3.

Across those three victories, Emma Clarke produced 8.3 points and 4.0 rebounds, Amy Atwell 5.7 points and 4.7 boards, Lara McSpadden 3.7 points and 2.0 rebounds, and Marena Whittle 3.3 points and 2.3 boards with seven key assists across the matches.

The men's wheelchair team played just the one game and suffered a tight 16-13 defeat at the hands of England. Luke Pople and Tom O'Neill-Thorne had four points each for Australia with Tomas Klein adding three and Eithen Leard two.

The Australian women's wheelchair team played just the one game and England ended up beating them 16-6. Georgia Munro-Cook scored four of the points for Australia.

Results

Australian men

Game 1: Australia 21 - New Zealand 15
Sam McDaniel: 8 points, 6 rebounds, 2 key assists
Jonah Antonio: 8 points, 1 rebound
Jesse Wagstaff: 4 points, 2 rebounds
Jarred Bairstow: 1 point, 2 key assists

Game 2: Australia 21 - Nigeria 15
Jonah Antonio: 12 points
Sam McDaniel: 4 points, 5 rebounds, 1 key assist
Jesse Wagstaff: 4 points, 2 rebounds
Jarred Bairstow: 1 point, 4 rebounds

Game 3: Australia 21 - Scotland 14
Sam McDaniel: 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 key assists
Jonah Antonio: 4 points, 4 rebounds
Jarred Bairstow: 4 points, 2 rebounds, 1 key assist
Jesse Wagstaff: 3 points, 8 rebounds, 1 key assist

The schedule

All times AEST. All teams compete in Pool A.

Australia v New Zealand – Friday, July 24 - 7:00pm
Australia v Nigeria – Saturday, July 25 - 2:25am
Australia v Scotland – Saturday, July 25 - 5:40am
Australia v Guyana – Sunday, July 26 - 11:50pm
Australia v Cayman Islands – Monday, July 27 - 5:20am