Strong display sends Emus into quarter-finals

The Australian Emus led from start to finish in their Round of 16 matchup with the Dominican Republic to book a place in the quarter-finals.

Six Emus scored in double figures, led by Jacob Furphy’s 24 points, as Australia claimed a 106–96 victory at the Under-19 FIBA World Cup.

The Emus opened their U19 World Cup campaign with a loss to the USA on Saturday night before edging out Cameroon in double overtime on Sunday, then defeating France on Tuesday to close out the group phase.

That set up a Round of 16 clash against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday night at Cooly Arena in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Emus wasted no time asserting themselves.

Australia led wire-to-wire, jumping out to a 25–16 advantage by quarter-time. While the Dominican Republic stayed in touch, the Emus still held a 51–41 lead at the half.

Furphy opened the second half with back-to-back threes as part of a 10–0 run that blew the lead out to 20 points within two minutes.

The Dominican Republic spent the rest of the game playing catch-up. Australia led 76–64 at three-quarter time and never allowed the margin to drop below eight points in the final term.

The 10-point win marks Australia’s third straight victory and secures their spot in the quarter-finals.

The Emus won the rebounding battle 46–32, including 21 offensive boards to 15, resulting in a dominant 34–11 edge in second-chance points. Australia also shot 11/21 from three-point range compared to 9/24 from the Dominican Republic.

Furphy top-scored again with 24 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals while hitting 5/7 from beyond the arc.

Roman Siulepa added 15 points and four rebounds, Che Brogan chipped in 14 points and six assists, and Dash Daniels also scored 14 with four assists.

Luke Fennell made all four of his three-point attempts for 12 points, Jack Whitbourn posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Goc Malual added eight points and eight boards.

For the Dominican Republic, Lucas Morillo finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Adrian Brito added 21 points, Fernando De Los Santos scored 19, and Danny Carbuccia had 17 points and six assists.

Australia will now face Germany in the quarter-finals on Friday night.

FIBA UNDER-19 WORLD CUP – ROUND OF 16

AUSTRALIAN EMUS 106 (Furphy 24, Siulepa 15, Brogan14, Daniels 14)
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 96 (Morillo 22, Brito 21,Carbuccia 17)

BOX SCORE