Gliders finish fourth at Worlds
The Gliders ran out of steam and were overrun by the Canadians in the final quarter after leading by as much as 11 points in the first term.
Sarah Stewart led the Australians with 15 points, five rebounds and three steals while Canada’s Janet McLachlan topscored with 18 points and grabbed a game high 20 rebounds.
A blistering 13-2 start by the Gliders had the Canadians in chase mode, calling a timeout with 3:28 on the clock. Canada regained their footing to match it with the Australians for the remainder of the quarter but the Gliders held on to a nine-point lead at the first break, 17-8.
In the second term the Australians continued to find open shots but Canada was making some headway with fast break layups.
The Gliders were shooting at 50 percent from the field to Canada’s 35 and held a 10-point advantage at halftime, 29-19.
Canada made a 4-0 start to the third term, closing the gap to six points before the Australians added to their tally.
A couple of missed shots from the Gliders suddenly had the Canadians back within three points midway through the quarter; the Australians shot just 22 percent from the field for the term (4-of-18) to hold just a three-point lead at the last break, 41-38.
Canada levelled the scores at 45-all with 6:27 left to play and pushed ahead, stealing the lead from the Australians and running out to lead 53-45 as the Gliders started to flounder.
Gliders coach John Triscari called a timeout with 4:24 and the Australians facing their largest deficit of the game, eight points. But the brief reprieve did little to stop the Canadians who overwhelmed the Gliders to steal the 10-point win, and the Bronze.
The Australian Men’s Wheelchair Basketball team, the Rollers, will be playing for the Gold medal against France from 1.15am Sunday July 18 AEST. You can follow the game live with LIVESTATS and with Live Video Streaming.
The women’s Gold medal will be decided between the United States and Germany.
Quarter by quarter:
1: AUS 17 CAN 8
H: AUS 29 CAN 19 (12-11)
3: AUS 41 CAN 38 (12-19)
F: CAN 59 AUS 49 (21-8)
CANADA 59 (J McLachlan 18, C Benoit 14, T Ferguson 7, T Feser 7) def
AUSTRALIA 49 (S Stewart 15, C Crispin 10, L Tesch 10)
At National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England
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