Davo Hickey nails second buzzer beater to beat New Zealand again

The Boomers’ World Cup qualifying bid is off to a bumper start as Australia broke hearts across the Tasman.

Lightning struck twice for Davo Hickey as the NBL star nailed his second clutch three* in as many games to help Australia to a thrilling 79-77 qualifier win over New Zealand, even if fans didn’t get to see the wild finish live.

The Boomers looked finished at different stages of the fourth quarter, only for Hickey to nail the go-ahead three on the buzzer to seal an epic win, just days after he landed a long bomb to clinch victory over the Tall Blacks in Hobart.

But fans in Australia didn’t get to see the Wellington game won live, after the broadcast feed cut off with under three minutes to go, with fans scrambling to social media to see Hickey’s heroics.

He is turning into Australia’s Mr Reliable, with Hickey’s match-winner leaving the Wellington faithful in stunned silence.

PINDER SURPRISE
Keanu Pinder looked like he’d entered the Matrix as things slowed down for the big man, who led the way for Australia with 21 points and some huge defensive plays in the first half.

He had five of Australia’s seven blocks and also had a couple of steals in a dominant first half to give the visitors a 39-37 lead at the main break before the hosts stormed back.

But Pinder kept delivering and it was his driving lay-up with 31 seconds remaining that cut the gap to just one point.

Nick Kay (20 points) was enormous late on and got the Boomers back to within one point midway through the fourth quarter, with his defensive rebound paving the way for Hickey to land the three pointer at the death.

SAM’S THE MAN
This is one the Tall Blacks will stew on for a very long time.

A thunderous Sam Mennenga dunk sparked New Zealand’s second-half surge and had them on track to exact revenge on the Boomers after Hobart, but they made just two field goals in the final three minutes and 58 seconds, leaving the door open for an Australian comeback.

Just days after the Boomers beat them by five points, the Tall Blacks found form on their home court in a grinding* affair, thanks to Mennenga exploding to life with 10 points in the third quarter as the hosts erased their halftime deficit.

Mennenga played like a man possessed as they went on a 9-0 run late in the quarter, with his aggressive left-handed dunk over Jack White sending social media into a storm.

It was his three that put New Zealand up 55-53 with three minutes to go in the third, and Mennenga didn’t slow down on his way to a team high of 16 points to go with six rebounds with only one other teammate reaching double digits.

New Zealand’s bigs were too strong for the Aussies for most of the game, with the hosts dominating the boards with an extra nine rebounds in a typically physical trans-Tasman battle.

A little push and shove in the final three minutes saw Angus Glover and Izayah Le’Afa come together after a foul, which resulted in both men picking up technicals.

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POLL

GLOSSARY

• clutch three: a three pointer that wins the game
• grinding: describes a difficult task or process

EXTRA READING

Aussie star stuns with 36-year first

Melb NBA star’s slam-dunk bucks

Aussie rookie in fairytale NBA bid

QUICK QUIZ

1. What was the final score in Wellington?
2. How many seconds were on the clock when New Zealand’s lead was cut to just one point?
3. Whose three points put New Zealand in the lead 55-53 with three minutes to go in the third?
4. The broadcast feed was cut with how many minutes to go?
5. It was the second time which Australian player scored the winning points against New Zealand in the dying seconds of the game?

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CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Class shoot out
Go outside and split the class into two groups at either end of the basketball court. 

Each student to have a shot or two rom the three pointer line to get a goal. Keep a tally of how many shots were taken and how many three pointer goals were scored. 

From your results who is the best shooter in your class?!

Time: allow 20  minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
How do you think Davo Hickey handled the pressure to nail a three point shot on the buzzer two games in a row?

What practice do you think he puts in each week to be able to score these match-winning goals?

Time: allow 5 minutes to complete this activity 
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.

You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.

Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.

VCOP dodgeball
The normal rules of dodgeball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.

VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.

Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.

Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.

What can you come up with?