Emerging Boomers make light work of Estonia
Australia made light work of their 105-83 victory over Estonia at the 2017 World University Games, remaining in the hunt to finish as high as ninth place after narrowly missing out on the quarterfinals.
Xavier Cooks' impressed with a double-double consisting of 19 points (5-of-7 FG), 10 points and 3 assists, leading 5 Australian's who scored in double figures. Gorjok Gak continued his emergence, also clocking up a double-double of 17 points (8-of-10 FG) and 10 rebounds.
Australia opened the contest in aggressive fashion, with Gorjok Gak scoring the first basket followed by a Dejan Vasiljevic three-point play. Gak and Vasiljevic would both score again, helped fire the Uniroos to a 13-2 run to start the game. Xavier Cooks and Gak were dominating the paint offensively, yet just as it looked like the Emerging Boomers were going to open up a big lead, the Estonian's bounced back. Yet a Tanner Krebs three-pointer in the dying moments saw the Australian;s lead 24-19 at the first break.
Krebs would hit his second triple to open the second period, with Kyle Adnam picking up the assist. Adnam was active at both ends, coming away with a steal and then feeding Craig Moller for a score inside. Estonia were getting second looks thanks to offensive rebounds, and through that they managed to stay within reach. Emmett Naar and Cooks starting linking up, with the Saint Mary's point guard finding Cooks, only for Cooks to return the favour not long after for a Naar three-ball to keep Australia up by 11 points. Naar would continue to step up, carving the defense up to score 9 points for the term to ensure his side would lead 48-31 at half time.
Giving the ball to their big guys, Gak and Cooks would help push the margin to beyond 20, both registering double figures individually. With Mark Radford rotating his bench, Australia's depth and unrelenting pressure would take its toll on Estonia. Coming in for Naar who had 9 points and 5 assists, the offense would barely miss a beat as Adnam quickly raced to 9 points and 4 assists himself. With the bench getting a run, Estonia exploded for a 12-2 run over the last 2:22 to close to within 16 points at the last break.
Vasiljevic and Gak combined to push the lead back out to 20 early in the final quarter. Adnam was not one to miss out, adding to his scoring tally and keeping the Estonian's at bay. Jack McVeigh then got going, draining two treys to push Australia past 100 points. When Tyrell Harrison scored late, he ensured that every Aussie had added to the final 105-83 score.
Australia were far too big and strong in the paint for Estonia, winning the rebound count 41-27 while shooting 58% from the field and making 23-30 from the line.
While Cooks and Gak added big hauls, so did Adnam who contributed 19 points and 5 assists. Vasiljevic finished with 12 points, as McVeigh finished with a flurry to gather 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Emerging Boomers will take on the winner of Mexico versus Norway in their next game, with the winner earning the right to playoff for ninth place. The game will be played on Monday, 28 August 2017 at 10:00pm AEST.
Australia 105: Cooks 19, Adnam 19, Gak 17, Vasiljevic 12, McVeigh 10 Estonia 83: Lips 21, Post 19, Kirves 12, Metsalu 10
Emerging Boomers Schedule (all times AEST)
Pool D August 20: Australia lost to Ukraine 76-80 August 21: Australia defeated Lithuania 84-82 August 23: Australia lost to Israel 72-89 August 24: Australia defeated Russia 89-71 August 25: Australia defeated Mozambique 87-58 August 27: Classification 9-16 - Australia defeated Estonia 105-93 August 28: Classification 9-12 - Australia vs winner of Mexico versus Norway at 10:00pm August 29: Classification