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Atlanta avenged U.S. gains revenge for 1996 defeat by ousting Australians
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- The wheelchair version of the U.S. dream team took some revenge Wednesday against Atlanta Paralympic gold medallist Australia, knocking the champions out of medal contention in Sydney. The United States, a five-time Paralympic gold medallist, grabbed a 62-54 win at the SuperDome to advance to a semifinal against the Netherlands. The Dutch defeated Germany 72-66 later Wednesday. Australia now goes into a playoff for fifth place in the men's tournament. After being upstaged at Atlanta in a shock semifinal loss to the Australians and having to settle for bronze, the Americans returned the deed in front of a parochial crowd. More than 16,400 fans, the biggest crowd ever for a Paralympic wheelchair basketball match, packed into the SuperDome for the showdown. Dan Byrnes, head coach of the U.S. team, said revenge probably wasn't a motivating factor in Sydney because the Atlanta loss was "never mentioned". "The Australians won that fair and square, it's history," Byrnes said. "We only have four players from that team ... and this is a new world title to go for. "I feel relief right now, because when it gets to this situation it's lose and you're out. We're still in there." The United State had a 4-1 record in preliminaries, losing only to Canada. Canada thrashed Sweden 73-39 in the first quarterfinal to set up a semifinal showdown against Britain, 67-56 winners over France. The United States led Australia for all but about a minute of the match, giving the lead up once briefly in each half as the Rollers surged back from big deficits. The visitors were too superior on the rebounds and at winding down the shot clock, landing four outside baskets in the dying minutes and keeping the Australians scoreless to cruise to a comfortable win. "It sure gets your heart pumping," said U.S. player Paul Schulte, who contributed 17 points. "It feels like you're running toward the end of a cliff and almost falling off, but we didn't. It was a fantastic result." Australian co-captain Sandy Blythe said it was the Aussies who felt like they'd fallen off a cliff. "I won't be too wordy, gutted is the best way to describe it," Blythe said of his reaction to the loss. "Now every single one of us will step up to the line and go after whoever the poor sucker is we have to face Friday and get No. 5."
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