Australia shrugged off a rusty begin and a horrific third quarter to comfortably defeat Bahrain 83-51 of their males’s basketball World Cup Asian qualifier in Melbourne.
The Boomers fell right into a shock early gap in Thursday night time’s Group F conflict towards 84th-ranked Bahrain on the State Basketball Centre, earlier than restoring order with a 27-5 second time period.
Coming off a quiet season with Perth, veteran Todd Blanchfield high scored with 20 factors whereas heart Isaac Humphries notched 18 in his first sport within the green-and-gold since 2019.
Naturalized American energy ahead Wayne Chism (15 factors) and zippy sixth man Haji (14) led the best way for Bahrain, which held robust for big stretches and was definitely not embarrassed.
World No.three Australia simply gained the earlier conflict between the 2 groups by 54 factors on the Khalifa Sports activities Stadium in August.
However the hosts obtained an early jolt this time when Bahrain burst out to a 14-Eight lead.
The vacationers nonetheless led 19-18 late within the opening stanza earlier than the Aussies cranked up the defensive strain and went on a 23-Zero spree both aspect of quarter-time.
Blanchfield had 13 factors in exactly three minutes as Bahrain momentarily fell to items.
However Australia’s commanding 52-24 halftime lead was trimmed to 59-43 on the last change after Chism and Haji helped Bahrain dominate the third time period 19-7.
Inexplicably, the Boomers went ice chilly, lacking 16 of their 17 photographs for the quarter as they have been out-rebounded 15-9.
Their struggles did not final although as Blanchfield and Humphries bought rolling within the fourth, joined by captain Nick Kay and his fellow Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Nathan Sobey.
They helped Australia recapture the momentum with a 24-Eight last time period.
The Boomers, who’ve already booked their spot within the World Cup beginning in August, tackle Kazakhstan within the final qualifier on Sunday.
