SCOTS INTO LAST FOUR IN OZ
Scotland will face favourites Australia for a place in the men’s basketball final at the Commonwealth Games after holding off Nigeria 66-61 in Cairns to reach the last four.
Gareth Murray grabbed a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds as Rob Beveridge’s men pulled away with a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter to keep up their surprise unbeaten run.
“It was one of the most emotional games of my career,†Beveridge revealed. “To see what we’ve achieved when hardly anyone thought this could happen. I had belief in the whole team but that’s not enough – it’s about putting words into action. And even when we had a few dumb plays in the third quarter, the guys dug deep and started going again.â€
12 unanswered points in the second period had put the Scots as much as 35-21 ahead before Nigeria cut the gap to 12 at half-time.
But despite a game-best 24 points and 15 rebounds from ex-NBA forward Ike Diogu, the pre-tournament outsiders held their nerve to shoot over 51% and tee up a showpiece semi against the hosts and hot favourites on Saturday morning.
And Beveridge, the assistant coach for the Boomers when they landed gold at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, admits it will be huge to square off against his old mates in Gold Coast this weekend with Canada meeting New Zealand in the other side of the draw.
“I’ve coached 11 of the 12 on the Australian team so I guess I’ll be doing the scouting report,†he said. “It’s amazing to face them but obviously we know how difficult it’s going to be.â€
England’s women beat Jamaica 62-40 to make the last four. But England’s men crashed out, losing 97-79 to Canada despite 22 points from Adam Thoseby.Â
Do you like our work?
We have a tiny favour to ask. In 2018 we set out to make Hoopsfix sustainable by building our relationship directly with our readers. Up until now, Hoopsfix has been creating editorials, videos and podcasts to provide sorely missing coverage of the British game and its distinct culture and community.
We have funded Hoopsfix with our freelance work creating basketball media, but sadly that means not only does it fall behind our client’s priorities, but some of those clients are the same organisations we need to report objectively on putting us in a conflicted position.
We want to devote more time to our mission of helping British basketball reach its potential, and produce even more content for the basketball community by making Hoopsfix a sustainable 100% independent business funded directly by our readers through Patreon.
If everyone who enjoys our content chose to support us, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $3 per month, you can support Hoopsfix – and it only takes a minute.
We are tremendously honoured and humbled to have a community of people who value what we do, and we look forward to being at the forefront of the British game as it continues to evolve.
0 comments