Australia edge out China for Asia Cup ‘three-peat’
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Tournament MVP Jaylin Galloway poured in 23 as Australia fought back from an early deficit to deny China a record-extending 17th triumph.
PHOTO: FIBA ASIA CUP/X
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JEDDAH – Australia landed a third straight Fiba Asia Cup title when China’s Hu Mingxuan missed a three-point buzzer beater at the end of the final on Aug 17, leaving the Boomers to lift the trophy with a 90-89 victory at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City.
Xavier Cooks, who was named the final’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), scored 30 points and tournament MVP Jaylin Galloway poured in 23 as Australia fought back from an early deficit to deny China a record-extending 17th triumph in the continental championship.
Galloway ended the tournament with per-game averages of 14.2 points on 66.7 per cent shooting from deep, 3.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 steals.
“The main thing is I am so proud of the character of our guys,” said Boomers coach Adam Caporn.
“We were down by 15, but we saw our players’ toughness, their problem-solving attitude. We have great people in the programme, and in my opinion that’s why we won.”
He added: “I couldn’t speak more highly of Xavier Cooks. He’s played a point forward role for us. Xavier stepped up, he doesn’t always score a lot, having to do more ball carrying for us.
“He’s played well on both ends. Tonight, the moment called on him to score more, and he did just that.”
Hu was the standout for China with 26 points and captain Zhao Rui said coming so close to snatching the title proved the team were on the right track.
“This loss actually motivates us,” he said. “Some fans probably didn’t expect a close game, but we delivered a wonderful game for the fans tonight.
“This one-point loss will remind us to work harder and get better. Today is just the start, not the end.”
China’s coach Guo Shiqiang added: “It’s a wonderful game, and the two sides staged a gold-medal level show for the fans. We lost by one point. It’s tough for the players, but I think they did their best.”
It was the team’s first medal since winning the gold during the 2015 edition.
Australia joined Fiba’s Asian zone from Oceania a decade ago and the Aug 17 victory kept them unbeaten in 18 Asia Cup matches, going back to their debut in 2017.
Galloway headlined the team of the tournament, which also featured teammate Jack McVeigh, China’s front-court tandem of Hu and Wang Junjie, and Iran’s point guard Sina Vahedi.
Across the tournament, Vahedi registered 17.8 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game to help the Iranians to their first podium finish since snatching silver in 2017.
Earlier on Aug 17, Iran beat New Zealand’s Tall Blacks 79-73 to secure third place.
Vahedi finished with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Seyed Jafari led the scoring with 22 points.
Flynn Cameron paced the Kiwis with 18 points, while Mojave King added 13.
Said Iran forward Arsalan Kazemi: “We walked into the tournament as underdogs... It feels kinda greater than a gold medal for me, because it was very unexpected.” REUTERS
