Singapore – The Australian Boomers have swept China in the YouYi Games to claim the series with a 63-57 game-two victory in Singapore on Monday morning.
Boomers captain David Barlow was named MVP after a dominant performance, which saw him lethal from range, while effectively attacting the basket and getting to the foul line.
Game one of the YouYi Games series saw both teams struggle from the field and that’s how things started in this contest, before the Aussies found some touch behind some long-range shooting from their captain.
Leading by as many as 15 in the second period, China started to rally as things dried up offensively for the Boomers.
China began attacking the basket themselves, the likes of Zhou Peng putting together some nice moves in the paint, Wang Shipeng managed to get to the foul line off a strong drive, before Li dropped a big three from the top of the key, to bring China to within two.
The Boomers were able to keep the points ticking over with some strong drives from Damian Martin and some heavy work under the bucket from Luke Nevill. A Chinese three-point bucket was waived off for a travel violation in the dying moments of the half, giving the Boomers a 32-26 edge going into half-time.
“It’s always competitive when we play China especially in this region,” said Brown at the half. “It’s a pretty resilient group. They’ve played in big games before.”
With 12 turnovers to five at the half, the Chinese side would’ve wanted to look after the ball when things resumed in the third. Barlow had 16 points at half-time and China were going to need to find an answer for the Aussie captain also.
Both teams remained quiet after the half-time break, but a David Barlow jump shot from the baseline – the Boomers’ first field goal until the seven minute mark – got the side going.
Damian Martin free throws had the Boomers out to a 10-point lead, 39-29, before a Luke Neville three point play extending things out to 13 points.
China pegged it back to nine points off a big defensive play and uncontested lay-up and when Zhou Peng hit a three, the lead was back to six. China weren’t done – Yi Li made a critical bucket to bridge the gap to within five, and with only a few minutes to play, China were within three.
When Crawford hit a big three to get the score back out to seven, followed by back-to-back buckets by Wagstaff, the Boomers were home with a six point win and the YouYi Games trophy.
“I’m stoked and as a team we’re stoked. To come out and not only to be able to compete at such a high level but to beat China, such a powerful basketball nation, I’m really proud of this time, such a young team and a lot of new faces. We’re really happy,” said MVP Barlow.
“I missed some shots early – I got to the free throw line which helped me out and got me a little more comfortable,” he said.
News courtesy of Sportal: http://www.sportal.com.au/basketball-news-display/boomers-clinch-china-series-127860
