Indiana University Athletics
Allen Helps Australia Remain Perfect at World Championship
8/9/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 9, 2005
CORDOBA, Argentina - The Australian Youth Men's Team (the Crocs) picked up a dramatic 105-104 win over Israel at the FIBA Under-21 World Championship. Hoosier freshman Ben Allen finished with eight points and seven rebounds, five offensive. Australia improved to 4-0 in Group A, assuring themselves a spot in the quarterfinals of the championship.
Allen was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line to improve his championship charity stripe shooting to 86.7 percent (13-of-15). That number ranks fifth at the World Championship. The Melbourne native also helped the Crocs dominate the board, ranking second on the team in that category as Australia outrebounded Israel, 38-25. Allen also had two assists and a steal in the win.
Australia trailed at the half for the first time in the championship at 61-52. The Crocs rallied to take a one-point advantage into the final period at 84-83 before the eventual 105-104 victory. Steven Markovic sank a pair of free throws with two seconds remaining to give Australia the victory.
"We played good defense against Israel, but we could not stop them," Australia head coach Guy Molloy said. "If there had been 15 more seconds in the game, the result might have been different. Many of our players were great in this game."
Brad Newley finished with 22 points to lead Australia, while Markovic and Aleksandar Maric each had 16. Israel had a trio of players score more than 20 points. Yotam Halperin had a game-high 27, while Lior Eliyahu had 26 and Raviv Guy Limonad finished with 24.
In Group A, Greece defeated Canada, 62-53, while Argentina picked up a forfeit victory over Iran. In Group B, the U.S. remained the only other undefeated team at the championship with a 113-78 win over Nigeria. Also in Group B, Lithuania downed Slovenia, 92-74, and Puerto Rico defeated China, 101-65.
Australia will battle host Argentina in its final Group A game on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. CT. The quarterfinals for the FIBA U21 World Championship start on Friday. The semifinals are set for Saturday with the finals to follow on Sunday. IUHOOSIERS.com will continue to track the progress of Allen and Australia at the World Championship.
