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Australia completed a clean sweep of the FIBA Oceania U19 Championships in Adelaide, overwhelming their Kiwi counterparts in Game Three of both the men’s and women’s series.

The third quarters continued to be New Zealand’s Achilles heel against their highly rated counterparts from across the Tasman.

In a 60-81 loss to the Emus, the Junior Tall Blacks trailed by just eight points at halftime and then conceded a 22-9 period after the break that effectively ended their chances of an upset.

The Aussies edged away with a 14-1 run immediately after the restart. They again forced the young Kiwis into 21 turnovers and were almost unstoppable in the paint, enjoying a 42-24 advantage in inside scoring and out-rebounding the JTBs 42-24.

New Zealand actually shot slightly better than their hosts, but could not retain enough possession to make a contest of it. They attempted 49 field goals to Australia’s 75.

Porirua guard Brook Ruscoe-Taiaroa again led his team in scoring with 15 points (6/9 FG, 1/3 3pt, 2/4 FT), while Dion Prewster and Rob Loe managed 10 points apiece.

Both New Zealand, as hosts, and Australia, as Oceania representatives, have secured spots in next year’s FIBA World U19 Men’s Championships in Auckland.

In the women’s contest, the Junior Tall Ferns, as they had done the previous night, led the Gems through the opening stanza and trailed by seven at halftime, only to fall 4-26 in the third quarter on the way to a 46-81 loss.

Their third-quarter blues were even more pronounced than their male counterparts. Over the three games, they were outscored 71-20 in that period.

Nelson guard Jelena Vucinic, daughter of Tall Black coach Nenad Vucinic, led the JTBs with 10 points as Australia progressed to the 2009 FIBA World U19 Women’s Championships in Thailand.

FIBA Oceania U19 Championships

Adelaide
Sunday, August 3
Men
Australian Emus 81 (Cody Ellis 18) NZ Junior Tall Blacks 60 (Brooke Ruscoe 15, Dion Prewster & Rob Loe 10)
Q 17-16
HT 35-27 (18-11)
3Q 57-36 (22-9)
FT 81-60 (24-24)

Women
Australian Gems 81 (Tess Madgen 14), NZ Junior Tall Ferns 46 (Jelena Vucinic 10)
Q 14-16
HT 32-25 (18-9)
3Q 58-29 (26-4)
FT 81-46 (23-17)