Aussies lock in Cup ticket
AUSTRALIA have booked their place at the 2019 Basketball World Cup in China after defeating Iran 76-47 in Melbourne.
In a rematch of the 2017 Asia Cup final, the Boomers again came out on top with a dominant performance at Margaret Court Arena last night. The win gives Australia eight wins from nine Asian zone qualifying matches and guarantees a top-three finish in Group F that sees them advance to next year’s finals.
“It’s an awesome achievement,” said guard Nathan Sobey.
“We are really glad that we can finally take that off our shoulders but we’ve still got to continue to come out and play the games like we’ve still got to qualify and play some good basketball.”
With Iran missing a number of experienced players, including former NBA centre Hamed Haddadi, the Boomers used a balanced scoring attack and stifling defence to overwhelm the visitors.