June 24, 2008

Moraga, CA - With three games now under his belt, and just eight days away from making the final roster for Australia's Boomers Olympic Squad, Saint Mary's point guard is having a summer to remember at home. Mills came off the bench in all three games to help the Boomers post a series sweep over Iran, leading up to this week's Ramsey Shield competition against rival New Zealand.

Last week the Boomers squared off against the national team from Iran and easily handled the visitors, winning all three games by an average of 28 points. In the first game played in Perth, Australia, the Boomers defeated Iran 87-68, game two resulted in a 97-53 thumping by Australia in Adelaide, Australia, and the final game was an 88-65 win at the State Netball Hockey Center.

In the three-game series, Saint Mary's guard Patrick Mills came off the bench in all three games and averaged 11.3 points in almost 16 minutes of action per game. He was the team's second leading scorer over the three games, and chipped in with 2.3 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.6 rebounds per game.

In the first game, Mills came off the bench to play 16 minutes and scored 11 points, had two rebounds and two assists, while making 4-of-7 shots overall and 3-of-4 attempts from the free throw line. Game two saw the 19-year old lead his team in scoring with 17 points in just over 16 minutes of action. Mills was 8-for-11 from the floor, was 1-for-2 from three, and added three assists and two rebounds. In the final game, he scored just six points and two steals.

Mills and Australia will continue with its exhibition schedule with two games against the New Zealand Tall Blacks this week. The first game of the home-and-home series, will be played in Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday nights, with the second and final game in Melbourne, Australia on Saturday.

These will be the final games for Australia before the final Olympic roster will be completed and submitted to the AOC on July 2. There are still 16 Australian players working to make the 12-man Olympic roster. The 12 players competing against New Zealand are Chris Anstey, David Barlow, CJ Burton, Wade Helliwell, Joe Ingles, Luke Kendall, Patrick Mills, Brad Newley, Andrew Ogilvy, Shawn Redhage, Glen Saville, and Mark Worthington. Player still in consideration for Beijing, but not contesting in the 2008 Ramsay Shield are Andrew Bogut, David Andersen, Matthew Nielsen, and Nathan Jawai.