SLU recruit Cody Ellis got good reviews for his play in the bronze medal game at the FIBA under-19 tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Australia lost to Croatia, who they had beaten earlier in the tournament, 87-81 in the final. Ellis had nine points, six rebounds and four blocks in the game, and was lauded for his defensive play.

SLU’s other Aussie recruit, Christian Salecich, had eight points and fouled out.

Here’s the game story and box score.

For the tournament, Ellis averaged 12 points per game (second-best for the Emus), 5.6 rebounds (tops on the team), and shot 56.5 percent on 3’s, but just 38.2 percent on 2’s. Salecich averaged 4.2 points and shot 40.9 percent on 3’s. Ellis took 23 3’s in the tournament, Salecich 22, which adds up to an average of 5 3’s per game by the two.

Cumulative stats are here.

Here are some postgame quotes from Ellis, via FIBA.com:

“I think the boys played really well. We came out fired up. Tough loss, but we come away from this just amazed at how well we did. We came together really well as a group, and I am just really proud of the boys.

That’s the Australian way, never given up, regardless of whether you are losing by one, or you are losing by 50.

Those guys (Croatia) are a great bunch of guys and a great bunch of basketballers.

I can’t wait to hopefully get the opportunity to play for them (Australian men’s team) some day, this has been amazing.”