In true trans-Tasman rivalry, the gold medal playoff in the Men's Basketball between Australia and New Zealand went right down to the wire - with Australia taking top honours in the final minutes. In one of the most thrilling basketball matches in Australian history, the Boomers played the game of their lives, bringing the crowd to its feet to cheer the gold medal. We will post the stats leaders and a tournament recap in the next days.
Gold Medal Game:
Australia - New Zealand: 81-76
The crowd was more than paying attention as the final term started and Mark Worthington got the home team back within one (65-66) with a tough fading jumper from beyond the three-point line. The noise from the crowd was deafening as Tony Rampton missed two important free throws and then New Zealand found themselves in foul trouble with half the quarter to play. Australia took full advantage, finding themselves at the line 16 times in the final quarter, adding nine points from the charity stripe. With more composure, the Australians used the excitement of their fans to help them home by five points. Yougster Luke Kendall (193-G-81) was the team's leading scorer with 17pts from the bench, Sam Mackinnon (197-F/G-76) recorded 16pts 4/6FG 9rbs, Jason Smith (194-G-74) scored 16pts and Mark Worthington (201-F-83) added 14pts. Pero Cameron (199-F/C-74) was the game's best scorer with 22pts 8/17FG 6rbs, Aaron Olson (195-G-78) scored 13pts, Paul Henare (182-G-79) added 11pts and Casey Frank (205-F-77) chipped in with 10pts.
'This tournament will go down in history for Australian basketball,' head coach Brian Goorjian said. 'We would never have guessed at how much this would mean to us and to basketball in Australia - the pressure was huge. After watching the Opals win last night, we knew we were all doing something positive for the game in this country. We know coming in that New Zealand was the team that would cause us problems. They know us well and knew we had a new team - they exposed that tonight. But it was our experienced guys that brought it home - Jason Smith, Sam Mackinnon, Tony Ronaldson and CJ Bruton.'
'To play in the Commonwealth Games is excitement enough (to get you over the line),' Australian co-captain CJ Bruton said. 'But to play in an atmosphere like this, to be down… wow. Australia never quits.'
'This feels like the biggest disappointment of my life because it is the freshest,' said NZ coach Baldwin. 'I'm so hurt for the guys because they gave it so much. This is a really good Australian team, but our guys played really well tonight. They played tough, hard-nosed New Zealand basketball ... it's just so disappointing.'
'I don't think the home crowd really affected us,' he added. 'It maybe helped them a couple of times when we got a little bit ahead, but they would rally and the crowd came into it. But I think their players did the job, not the crowd. They were just tougher when it counted. I guess, on critical possessions, they executed better than we did ... they hit some big shots, we didn't.'
Boxscore here