Photo by: SMC Athletics / Piper Westrom
MBB | Boomers Move Onto Knockout Stages of Olympic Play
8/2/2024 12:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PARIS, France — In a grueling preliminary stage, the Australian Men's Basketball team, a team that features three Saint Mary's alumni athletes and two former Gaels as coaches, is moving on to the knockout stage. The Boomers were one of three teams in the group that finished with a 1-2 record, defeating Spain before falling to Greece and Canada, but earned the second place bid into the knockouts on a tiebreaker to extend their stay in Paris.
Over the three preliminary games, Jock Landale has been a seemingly unstoppable force. The 2018 Saint Mary's graduate has led his squad, averaging 17.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest, while shooting 67.6% from the field. Playing the most minutes of any Boomer in the tournament thus far is elder statesman Patty Mills. The now five time Olympian is currently the third leading scorer for the Boomers, averaging 13.3 points per game, and has buried a team high seven three pointers. Rounding out the group of Gael athletes, Matthew Dellavedova buried his first bucket of these Olympic Games against Greece this morning, hitting a deep three late in the third quarter to start an eventual 8-0 run, as the Boomers turned a 15 point deficit into seven in the fourth quarter.
The Boomers opened up the tournament with an emphatic 12 point victory over Spain, before falling to Canada by 10 and Greece by just six. The tight losses to Canada and Greece would prove to be enough to move Australia on, with the best point differential between those three.
So far, six of eight nations have punched their tickets into the knockout stage. Australia so far will be joined by Canada, Germany, France, Brazil and the USA in the knockout stages. There are three more teams, Greece, South Sudan and Serbia, vying for the final two spots. While a lot is still to be determined, Australia will likely play either the lowest ranked group winner or the highest ranked second place team in the quarterfinals.
#GaelsRise
Over the three preliminary games, Jock Landale has been a seemingly unstoppable force. The 2018 Saint Mary's graduate has led his squad, averaging 17.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest, while shooting 67.6% from the field. Playing the most minutes of any Boomer in the tournament thus far is elder statesman Patty Mills. The now five time Olympian is currently the third leading scorer for the Boomers, averaging 13.3 points per game, and has buried a team high seven three pointers. Rounding out the group of Gael athletes, Matthew Dellavedova buried his first bucket of these Olympic Games against Greece this morning, hitting a deep three late in the third quarter to start an eventual 8-0 run, as the Boomers turned a 15 point deficit into seven in the fourth quarter.
The Boomers opened up the tournament with an emphatic 12 point victory over Spain, before falling to Canada by 10 and Greece by just six. The tight losses to Canada and Greece would prove to be enough to move Australia on, with the best point differential between those three.
So far, six of eight nations have punched their tickets into the knockout stage. Australia so far will be joined by Canada, Germany, France, Brazil and the USA in the knockout stages. There are three more teams, Greece, South Sudan and Serbia, vying for the final two spots. While a lot is still to be determined, Australia will likely play either the lowest ranked group winner or the highest ranked second place team in the quarterfinals.
#GaelsRise
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