Stibners stars as Rollers revenge London loss

With the NSWIS’s Brett Stibners playing a starring roll, Australia has taken revenge over Canada for defeat in the London 2012 Paralympic final, by posting a commanding 78-53 victory in their Rio 2016 day 3 wheelchair basketball clash.

Superstar Tristan Knowles (23 points) was ably assisted by Stibners (19) for the Rollers, who now hold a 3-0 record in Pool A, wrapping up a quarter final spot in the process.

Canada’s game plan to stifle Australia’s prime-movers became obvious from the get-go, with the Canadians not contesting the tipoff and instead opting to set a defensive press.

Knowles got Australia off to a flyer, with three triples in quick succession to carry-on his strong form from the first two matches before Canada rallied in the second quarter and through a tech-foul managed to find some momentum which seemed to stymie Australia’s progress.

As Canada’s aggression increased, Australia’s fortunes reduced, with the world champions reaching half-time with a 36-28 lead, shooting at a modest 33 per cent from the field.

Whatever coach Ben Ettridge said at half-time delivered the desired results however, with Australia embarking on a dominant period that saw them strike early, then with a 14 point, 58-44 lead at the last change, Stibners found a hot hand and capitalised in full, killing the match as a contest in the process.

At one stage, he scored seven consecutive points as the Rollers seized full control to stretch out to a final 25-point margin, with matches against Spain and Japan to round out the group stage.

Stibners ended the match shooting 62 percent from the field as well as pulling in three rebounds and contributing five assists in a brilliant all-round display.