Froling Helps Australia to Title at FIBA U18 Asian Championships

NONTHABURI, Thailand -- Incoming Creighton men's basketball freshman Samson Froling helped Australia to the FIBA U18 Asian Championship on Saturday, helping his country to a 72-63 win in the title game over New Zealand.

Froling (FRO-ling) finished the championship game with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, while also contributing six rebounds, three blocked shots and a pair of assists in 23 minutes. The Aussies trailed 11-7 early before closing out the first quarter with a 19-0 run and never trailed again.

Froling averaged 14.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.7 assists per game in six contests at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship. He shot 65.4 percent (34-52) from the field overall, including 71.4 percent (5-7) from three-point territory, in addition to 70.6 percent (12-17) at the line. He led the Aussies in points and blocked shots while ranking second in rebounds in the title run. Among all players at the FIBA U18 Asian Championship, Froling finished second in field goal percentage, fourth in blocks per game, sixth in double-doubles, ninth in rebounds per game and 13th in points per game.

Froling is no stranger to international competition, as this was his fifth FIBA event in the past four years. In those games, he's averaged 12.9 points and 9.0 rebounds.

Australia finished the event with a perfect 6-0 record, winning games by an average of 44.7 points. The gold medal game was Australia's lone contest decided by fewer than 34 points, and gave Australia a bit of revenge after falling to New Zealand 57-51 in the 2016 U18 Championships in Fiji when the teams were rivals in the Oceania Region. The performance of both teams, as well as semifinalists China and the Philippines, at this week's Asian Championship will advance the squads to the 16-team FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup in 2019.

Match	Min	FG	3FG	FT	REB	AST	PF	TO	ST	BS	PTS
vs THA Group Phase	18	4/7	0/0	1/1	11	1	1	2	0	0	9
vs BRN Group Phase	19	8/12	2/3	3/5	8	1	2	1	2	3	21
vs NZL Group Phase	21	6/10	0/0	7/8	11	0	1	4	0	1	19
vs JPN Quarter-Finals	23	6/7	0/0	0/2	11	5	1	2	0	2	12
vs PHI Semi-Finals	18	5/9	1/2	1/1	7	1	2	1	2	3	12
vs NZL Final	23	5/7	2/2	0/0	6	2	2	2	0	3	12
	Min	FG	3FG	FT	REB	AST	PF	TO	ST	BS	PTS
Accumulated	121	34/52	5/7	12/17	54	10	9	12	4	12	85
Average	20.2	65.4%	71.4%	70.6%	9	1.7	1.5	2	0.7	2	14.2

Froling Helps Australia to Title at FIBA U18 Asian Championships

Players Mentioned

Samson Froling

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