THE 2024 FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup is finishing with an Oceanic clash, after the Australian Emus defeated Jordan in emphatic fashion to book a spot in the gold medal match overnight.

The Emus will face off against their Trans-Tasman neighbours in New Zealand for the ultimate prize later tonight, having cruised through the remainder of the tournament with massive wins against all of their opponents.

The Aussies faced off against the home nation earlier this morning in the semi-finals, and would need to overcome a vocal home crowd if they were to finish as one of the top two nations and keep their gold medal hopes alive.

Although Jordan did have home court advantage, Australia was simply too strong, making easy work of the opposition to cruise home to a 52-point triumph.

Jordan (42) def. by Australian Emus (94)

It was ominous signs early for Jordan, with the Emus taking control of the game in the first term, outscoring the hosts 32-16 to jump out to a commanding lead. Remarkably, that was Jordan’s highest scoring term, as the margin only got bigger as the game went on.

The game was ultimately decided in the opening period, and despite Jordan snagging an early 3-2 lead, the Emus were unstoppable from that point on, going on a 21-0 run to silence the crowd and put themselves in the box seat.

Australia performed strongly on the defensive end, particularly in the first term in a crucial part of its performance, as it allowed the visitors the chance to keep the crowd out of the game. The Emus were also the better three-point shooting side, having a presence from behind the arc and making their offence much more dynamic.

Jordan was restricted to 25 per cent shooting from the field for the entire match, and could not get its offence going to the same level it had shown throughout the tournament. Australia was a class above, and demonstrated how strongly it is placed on the world stage.

Leading the way was Luke Fennell, who knocked down five triples en route to a game-high 24 points to go with five rebounds. Emmett Adair posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, while Che Dean Miller Brogan had four points, eight rebounds and 10 assists in an impactful showing.

Emus head coach Robbie McKinley was impressed with his side’s performance against a Jordan team that was in form.

“I thought we played a good game,” he said. “I thought the first five minutes of the first quarter, we really established ourselves defensively.

“Jordan is a very good team. They run a lot of good actions, and we had to guard that. I thought we did a good job there. I was happy with the way we rebounded the basketball. Finally, we shot the ball okay from three, which was pleasing to see.”

The Aussies will now take on New Zealand in a rematch of the 2018 final in Thailand. In that game, the Emus got the job done, and will be looking to repeat that result when they compete for gold at 2:30am AEST overnight.