The Emus have advanced to the eighth final rounds of the FIBA Under-19 World Championship as the top seed from group C, after crushing Syria 96–54 on 3 July in Auckland, New Zealand

The Australians posted their highest score of the tournament and stepped up their defensive effort to shut down any hope Syria had of getting back into the game.

Australia’s big men dominated the game, easily finding points in the paint and out-rebounding Syria 42–28. Two hundred and eight centimetre centre Matthew Hodgson led the Emus with 17 points in his first minutes at the championship, while forwards Mitchell Young and Brock Motum added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Syria’s Mahmoud Osfira led all scorers with 20 points.

The Emus jumped out to an early lead and despite sending Syria to the charity stripe eight times, extended their lead to 15 points at the first break. Syria converted just 50 per cent from the line in the quarter.

Emus forward Young had a monster second quarter, exploding for eight points, four rebounds and one block as Australia continued to push.

Unlike their earlier games in which the Emus had allowed sides to stay in touch, this time they did not let up and extended their lead to 24 points at half time and 28 points at the final break, bringing the score up to 72–44.

A 7–0 start to the fourth quarter gave the Aussies added breathing space and as Hodgson bagged 11 of his 17 points the Emus ran out winners by 42.

Australia verses Syria

Quarter by quarter:

• End of 1st quarter: Australia 27, Syria 12
• Half time: Australia 53, Syria 29  (26–17)
• End of 3rd quarter: Australia 72, Syria 44 (19–15)
• Full time: Australia 96, Syria 54  (24–10)

• Australia: 96 (Matthew Hodgson 17, Mitchell Young 14, Brock Motum 13)
• Syria: 54 (Mahmoud Osfira 20, Tarek Al Jabe 18, Samer Bawadekji 8)