THE Australian Emus have continued their perfect start at the 2024 FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup this week after defeating Lebanon by 32 points at Prince Hamza in Jordan on Tuesday night.

It was the second match of the group stage for the Aussies, who came into the game in some serious form after defeating Mongolia by a whopping 61 points on Monday night. It was the kind of performance that demonstrated how dangerous the Emus will be throughout the tournament.

Australia was shaping as one of the biggest medal favourites after such a dominant display, and Lebanon would prove another challenge in the group stage, although the Emus were certainly favourites after showing tremendous depth in their first outing.

The Aussies kept their unbeaten streak rolling with a big win on Tuesday, cementing themselves as the biggest threat in the tournament with another emphatic display.

Australian Emus (78) def. Lebanon (46)

It was a scrappy start to the match for both sides, with Australia and Lebanon each looking to push the ball inside and score in the paint, although it was extremely crowded in there down both ends. Although the Aussies came into the match in red-hot form, Lebanon was certainly up for the fight early, leading 11-4 at one stage thanks to some tough defence that made life hard for the opposition. However, the Aussies maintained their aggression despite the defensive pressure and some handy trips to the free throw line ensured they turned that deficit into a six-point lead at the first change.

The second quarter saw the Emus ramp up their paint defence, forcing Lebanon to take shots from behind the arc, most of which did not find the bottom of the net and were far lower percentage than the attempts it was taking in the opening period. On the other hand, Australia was continuing to drive into the paint and force contact, with the Lebanese defenders getting frustrated with how easily the Aussies were drawing fouls. At the main break, it was a a 14-point buffer for the Emus, and the game was in their hands.

Lebanon came out of half time with energy, but was still relying too heavily on jump shots that were not falling. Meanwhile the Aussies were using their bigger bodies to get easy looks under the basket and began to bully the opposition in the low block. Australia’s passes were extremely well placed and well timed, making the job tremendously easy for the player cutting to the basket, creating wide open layups on a consistent basis. The Emus were showing no signs of slowing down and it was Jacob Furphy that led the way, proving too much for the defence to handle to lead his side to a 23-point advantage at the final change.

With the game essentially out of reach with 10 minutes to play, the Aussies could have taken the foot off the accelerator in the fourth. However, they maintained their hunger and continued to outplay Lebanon until the final buzzer. The shots were falling from seemingly everywhere for Australia, and although the Lebanese tried to keep the margin as low as possible, it was to no avail as the Emus cruised home to a big win to keep their outstanding campaign rolling.

Furphy starred for the Aussies, posting a whopping 28 points in a breakout performance at international level from the guard. He shot 10/15 from the field and nailed four of his eight attempts from behind the arc in an unstoppable scoring display that will undoubtedly capture plenty of attention.

Jack Whitbourn did not reach the scoring heights of his performance against Mongolia, but was still a powerful presence in the paint, posting six points and 13 rebounds, while Mason Honeyman did a bit of everything with 10 points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Emus will now put their focus on the Chinese Taipei, who took out their first win last night and will face the Aussies tonight.