Australia U17 Boys win silver at World Championships
Congratulations to the Australian U17 men's team for winning the silver at the FIBA World Championships in Lithuania.
The Aussies fell to the USA in the gold medal game 95-62. The Australians went into the final game of the Championships with a 7-1 win/loss record, having defeated China, the Czech Republic, France, Egypt, Argentina and Croatia. The only game the Aussies dropped in their run to the gold medal was against the USA in the round games.
For the Aussies, Dante Exum capped off a stellar tournament, finishing with 21 gold medal points and being named in the All Tournament team.
The Australian players featured in the top 10 players of the Championships in assists, points per game, rebounds and block shots, indicating what a well rounded outfit they were.
- Mirko Djeric was 2nd in the Championship stats for assists, making 45 assists in the tournament for an average of 5.6 per game.
- Dante Exum was 4th in the points department, averaging 17.3 points per match.
- Nicolas Duncan recorded the 8th best result in the championships in rebounds, with 64 rebounds and an average of 8 per game.
- Ben Simmons was 10th in blocks with 8 tournament blocks.
4 of the Australian boys played at the 2010 Oceania Youth Tournament in New Caledonia - Mirko Djeric, Dante Exum, Darcy Malone and Joshua Derksen. FIBA Oceania would like to congratulate the players and coaching staff for a magnificent effort. Playing against the powerhouse basketball countries of the world, Australia showed the results of their extensive junior development program and the success of a strong preparation program. From all the Federations of Oceania, we say congratulations.
2012 Australian Silver Medal winning team
4 Nicholas Duncan
5 Mirko Djeric
6 Fabijan Krslovic
7 Darcy Malone
8 Gerard Martin
9 Benjamin Simmons
10 Joshua Derksen
11 Dante Exum
12 Matt Jackson
13 Michael Luxford
14 Jack Purchase
15 Felix Kalau von Hofe
