By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The game between France and Australia was balanced throughout all forty minutes and went down to the wire but Australia prevailed 100-98 in the end for the first spot in FIBA World Cup Group L.
Australia will face the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals while France will clash with Team USA.
Nando De Colo banked ten points in the fourth quarter including the layup to tie the game at 98 with 16 seconds left. Matthew Dellavedova got fouled in the following offense and although he scored only one of his two free throws (99-98), France failed to get the ball in the game as Patty Mills stole it and Mitch Creek sealed the win for Australia with two free throws.
Mills logged 30 points while Joe Ingles helped with 23 in addition to Aron Baynes’ 21 points. Baynes also added five boards and had a great shooting night with 5-6 from behind the arc.
For France, Evan Fournier banked game-high 31 points followed by De Colo’s 26 and Nicolas Batum’s 13 points.
Australia had an early 15-9 lead but France didn’t allow them to go further as the squad played a very balanced first half which ended in a tie (46-46). As was the case with most of the game, Fournier and Mills pushed their sides with 15 first-half points each.
They continued the battle after the break as well. Fournier banked 12 points in the third quarter and with the help of De Colo and Ruby Gobert sparked an 11-0 run for France which went ahead 70-61. However, Mills – who added 11 points in the third quarter – helped Australia bounce back and was down by a four-point margin (75-71) in front of the final period.
Australia kept the momentum, had an upper hand in the fourth quarter and managed to grab the win in the final seconds.
Game Highlights:
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL