Courtesy of Husker Athletics
A pair of former Husker basketball players made their Olympic debuts on Saturday during the first full day of action at the Paris Olympics. Jack McVeigh keyed a win for Australia against Spain, while Keisei Tominaga and Japan dropped its opener to the defending FIBA World Champion Germany.
McVeigh came off the bench and totaled 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting and seven rebounds in 20 minutes of Australia’s 92-80 win over Spain. McVeigh had a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a +14 on the day.
Spain led 56-54 midway through the third quarter when McVeigh keyed an 8-0 spurt with a 3-pointer to help Australia stretch the lead to eight points and never trailed again.
“Just trying to stay cool, next-play mentality, obviously making some bad plays because I was so energized, so ready to go, so excited to play.” McVeigh told FIBA.com following the game. “I just calmed down as the game goes along as still found ways to help the team with that energy.”
Spain closed to within 73-68 with 5:44 remaining before McVeigh came off the bench to help Australia pull away. He had five points, including a key 3-pointer in a 11-3 Australia run that provided some breathing room.
Keisei Tominaga saw limited action on Japan’s 97-77 loss to Germany, going scoreless off the bench, as he played the final minute of the first half. Tominaga becomes a two-time Olympian as he represented Japan in 3×3 in the Tokyo Olympics.
Both players will be in action on Tuesday morning. Australia takes on Canada at 6:30 a.m. (central) while Japan’s next game is against France at 10:15 a.m. (central).
