Monday, July 13, 2009

Valparaiso men’s basketball players Ryan Broekhoff (Frankston, Victoria, Australia/Australian Institute of Sport) and Cameron Witt (Launceston, Tasmania, Australia/Launceston) both recently finished representing their native Australia at a pair of world basketball tournaments.

Broekhoff was a fixture in the starting lineup for the Australian squad at the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in New Zealand.  The incoming freshman averaged 7.0 points and a team-high 7.1 rebounds per game for Australia, which finished the tournament in fourth place with a 7-2 overall record.  The 6’6” guard stood out in Australia’s preliminary round win over Spain, leading the team with 16 points and seven rebounds in that contest.  Broekhoff also posted solid performances against Kazakhstan, against whom he pulled down 11 rebounds, and in the third-place game against Croatia, going for 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

Witt was a member of the Australian roster for the 25th World University Games, contested in Belgrade, Serbia.  The sophomore appeared in a pair of games for Australia, going for two points, three rebounds and a steal against Greece and also playing against eventual gold medalists Serbia before suffering a minor injury that forced him to miss the remainder of the tournament.