Australia rallied in the last two minutes to beat Israel 66-59, claiming four successive wins in the men's Paralympic wheelchair basketball preliminaries at the USTB Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The match was tied 59-59 with two minutes left on the clock when the Aussies embarked on a 7-0 run to finish the match with a win.
Israel committed three turnovers, while Justin Eveson and Brad Ness scored free throws to decide the match.
Ness, Australian center, led his team in scoring with 30 points, including 10-13 shots from the free-throw line, and 10 rebounds.
"I don't know what was going on at the start. The game plan wasn't working and getting us through. We gave away a few fouls at the start and at half time our coach told us to get more mongrel in us. So we did," recalled Ness.
"We're called the 'aus-rollers' but our mascot is the honey badger which is without a doubt the most aggressive animal in the world. So that's what we do; we get in there like honey badger and play with that same aggression," said Ness about their style.
"Maybe a few years ago we might lost that game but we have a good team and know we can win now."
"It will be the same thing for the game against U.S.. We don't change from game to game. It doesn't matter if they come out and scout us, they won't get anything from that," added he.
"They're (U.S.) going to come out with their American swagger and we're going to try to knock that out of them."
Eveson scored 5-for-6 from the floor to finish with 13 points.
Israel was up during many parts of the game but failed to close it. Roei Rozenberg had a team-high 17 points, while Dotan Meishar joined him with 15 points and 17 rebounds. Liran Hendel and Lior Dror scored 11 points apiece.
Australia will next meet the United States to secure the first place of group B at the National Indoor Stadium. Israel will play Britain at the USTB Gymnasium. Both matches will be held on Thursday.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2008)