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Australia, Yugoslavia to meet in Diamond Ball basketball final
HONG KONG, Sept 4 (AFP) - Andrew Gaze poured in 33 points as Australia defeated Italy 101-82 here Monday and set up a showdown against Yugoslavia in the final of the Diamond Ball 2000 men's basketball tournament. World champions Yugoslavia earned a berth in Wednesday's final with a 94-89 defeat of a stubborn Canada in Monday's other match at the Hong Kong Coliseum. The 35-year-old Gaze, who will be seeking a medal in Sydney in what will likely be his last Olympics, put on a shooting clinic against Italy making six of nine three-pointers and nine-of-10 from the line. Forward Paul Rogers netted 14 points for Australia. Guard Shane Heal also finished with 14 points, all in the first half, when Australia raced to a 56-43 half-time lead. Alessandro Abbio had 18 points for Italy while Gregor Fucka scored 15. Yugoslavia and Canada were tied 50-50 at half-time but the Yugoslavs pulled away in the second half behind 15 points from Sacramento Kings forward Predrag Stojakovic. Stojakovic finished with a game-high 19 points. Dejan Tomasevic scored 18 points for Yugoslavia while Dejan Bodiroga and Predrag Danilovic each added 16. Dallas Mavericks guard Steve Nash took the scoring honors for Canada, finishing with 18 points while Rowan Barrett contributed 17. Yugoslavia (2-0) and Australia (2-0) both topped their groups in this warmup tournament which featured six of the 12 teams going to the Sydney Olympics. In Wednesday's other matches, Italy (1-1) will play Canada (1-1) for third and fourth place while China (0-2) will play Angola (0-2) for fifth and sixth place.
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