Update from NZ

The up to date info on Under 19 World Championships from www.fiba.com:

Day 3 Round Up - Second round awaits for 12 teams

AUCKLAND (FIBA U19 World Championship) - The first round of competition has been completed, and 12 teams - Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Puerto Rico, Spain and the USA - have advanced to the second round.

Angola, Iran, New Zealand and Syria will play off for positions 13-16 in classification games.

Kazakhstan surprised everyone in the host nation by shooting an impressive 53% from long range to defeat New Zealand, 90-83, and move into the second round.

Anton Arsenyev was unbelievable for Kazakhstan, nailing 9/13 field goals and 5/7 three pointers on his way to 27 points. Alexandr Tyutyunik continued his strong tournament with 20 points and 8 rebounds.

For New Zealand, Brook Ruscoe (20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and Rob Loe (20 points) continued their outstanding tournaments.

Lithuania overran old rival Greece with a 27-10 final quarter to run out 85-70 winners and claim top spot in Group A. Donatas Motiejunas was the star with 28 points on 11/17 shooting, 15 rebounds and 7 assists.

For Greece, Kostas Sloukas and Evangelos Mantzaris both scored 14 points, and Kostas Papanikolaou scored 13 points.

Croatia came from 10 points behind at quarter time to run over the top of Argentina and claim top spot in Group D. Buoyed by a large contingent of supporters, captain Mario Delas was again superb for Croatia with 27 points and 8 rebounds, while Tomislav Lubcic was also excellent with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

For Argentina, there were few highlights after quarter time, with only Matias Nocedal (11 points), Lisandro Rasio (11) and Andres Landoni (10) reaching double figures.

Spain claimed second spot of their pool, Group C, fighting off repeated comebacks from Canada to record a 82-75 win.

Daniel Perez was outstanding for Spain, nailing 5 three-pointers on his way to 29 points. Shooting guard Jorge Santana finished with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, and centre Toni Vicens recorded 14 points and 5 boards.

Canada were led by forwards Mangisto Arop (17 points), Marc Trasolini (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Tristan Thompson (12 points, 6 rebounds).

The USA kept their unbeaten record with a spectacular 112-55 victory over Egypt in front of a packed house at ASB Stadium. The stars of the day were the USA guards, with Ashton Gibbs (18 points, 6 assists) and Shelvin Mack (14 points, 4 assists) leading the way, while forwards John Shurna and Howard Thompkins scored 13 points.

Omar Tarek Oraby (15 points, 8 rebounds) Motaz Pellah Okasha (11 points) and Karim Eldahshan (10 points) were Egypt's best and showed promise for the future.

After a disappointing first 15 minutes Australia has kept their unbeaten record in tact with a comprehensive 96-54 victory over Syria. Syria closed to 26-40 with 5:14 remaining in the second quarter before Australia finally clicked into gear.

Reserve big men Matthew Hodgson (17 points) and Mitchell Young (14) led Australia, and Syria received excellent service from Mahmoud Osfira (20 points), and Tarek Al Jabe (18 points).

France survived an early scare to claim second place in Group B. Iran led 23-21 at quarter time, but the French turned the defensive screws in the second quarter, holding Iran to 9 points and scoring 20 of their own, and running away with a 86-68 victory.

Puerto Rico finished their strong group performance with a comprehensive 86-49 defeat of Angola. Mike Rosario finished with 28 points, while Carlos Lopez has his best game of the tournament with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA