Australia’s Junior Men have clinched the Oceania Championship and a 2007 World Championship berth in Vancouver with a stylish 106-84 win over a much-improved New Zealand Junior Tall Blacks at Shoalhaven.

The Kiwis got just the start they were looking for in this game with an early flurry that included a 3-pointer by Houston O’Riley, a pair of post moves by Benny Anthony Junior and a transition lay-up to Corey Webster, vaulting them to an 11-6 lead after just four minutes. Even better news was announced barely a minute later when game one destroyer Andrew Ogilvy was forced to the Australian bench with his second personal foul.

The game was right where the New Zealanders wanted it, but even without their inside trump, the Emus started to surge back into the contest. A 24-5 run punctuated by an exclamation dunk to Ben Dowdell saw them take the lead and race clear 30-16 at the first quarter break. Worryingly for the visitors, it was lesser-known names such as Chris Goulding and Daniel Jackson who were wreaking the havoc for the Australians.

The drought continued for the Kiwis in the second quarter with their barren spell stretching to over seven minutes and the Australian lead swelling to eighteen points. Richie Edwards (19 points) got the scoreboard moving again for New Zealand with some neat finishing inside, but Ogilvy soon returned and had an immediate effect in countering any run with a smooth jump hook and delightful no-look assist to hard working big man Jordan Dodman. It was 53-38 to the Emus at the half with the only perceptible difference being the better clip at which they were shooting from the field (51%) compared to their opponents (33%).

Ben Dowdell opened proceedings for the Emus in the second half with a sweet left hand drive from the high post, which was quickly answered by the Kiwis’ leading scorer Corey Webster (24 points and 5 assists). In a heartbeat though, a few of the visitors’ misses were sent racing back down the floor for lay-ups by floor general Patrick Mills (18 points and 5 assists) and the game was spiralling out of control for New Zealand. A time out temporarily stemmed the flow and Ogilvy picked up a third to leave the court again, but that only seemed to spur the Australians on and with Mills continuing to display his lightning quickness on defence they stretched the lead out with more ruthless transition.

A half court no-look assist from Emus guard Ben Louis to a streaking Shannon Seebohm provide the highlight of the term for the crowd, which even an amazingly athletic dunk from Edwards for the New Zealanders couldn’t match. Given the sizeable margin (81-59) in favour of the hosts, the contest was all but over.

The final stanza featured a carnival like atmosphere in the stands and some quality play nonetheless. Big Ben Smith had a put back dunk amongst his collection of strong finishes for the Emus and arguably the New Zealanders best, Benny Anthony Junior (20 points and 15 rebounds), worked tirelessly in the paint to create and finish opportunities.

In the end it wasn’t so much the half court execution that made the difference, but the number of easy points the Emus’ defence was able to create for them. Their overall shooting percentage of 53% was testament to that aspect of their performance. New Zealand made some progress but again had too many patches where they completely lost control of tempo. Game three awaits tomorrow and though the series is decided, as with any trans-Tasman match-up, there is still plenty to play for.

Emus’ Coach Marty Clarke was naturally delighted with the depth of his side’s performance.

"We needed and need to be tested as often as possible as we don’t have the luxury the Europeans have of endless elite competition. In that sense, we need New Zealand to be as strong as possible for our region and they certainly made some improvements tonight. To win tonight with a smaller input from AJ (Ogilvy) and Pat (Mills) was especially pleasing,” Clarke said.

New Zealand's Coach Tony Webster was pleased his team had run the Australians closer than any other version at this age previously.

"I was much happier with the effort tonight. Edwards and Anthony stepped up and it was just those few lapses which made things tough. A few more games under our belt would have helped, as there is simply no substitute for the challenges games provide," Webster said.

Australian Emus 106 (Patrick Mills 18, Ben Louis 18, Ben Dowdell 16) defeated New Zealand Junior Tall Blacks 84 (Corey Webster 24, Benny Anthony Junior 20, Richie Edwards 19)

Article courtesy of www.fiba.com