BENDIGO (Australia) & Auckland (New Zealand) - Boomers and Tall Blacks remain undefeated in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers with big wins over Iran and Jordan, respectively.

New Zealand started off the day by leading from start to finish against Jordan, 100-72.

The Tall Blacks came out of the gates on fire, raining in 10 three-pointers in the first half alone to lead by as much as 26 points before halftime. They’d cruise along the rest of the way to build a lead as big as 32 points onwards to the win.

Five players scored in double-digits for New Zealand led by Shea Ili who had 16 points.

Jordan’s leading scorer was Amin Abu Hawwas who had 19 points, while Hashem Abbas pitched in 15 points of his own.

Australia saw their big first half lead wiped away in a matter of minutes in the third quarter, but went back to work and locked up Iran to win 98-68.

The Boomers breezed through the first half as Nick Kay scored 15 points in the first 20 minutes and it seemed like the game was heading towards and easy victory once again for Australia.

However, Iran came out of the halftime break with fire in their eyes and rallied to take the lead within just four minutes into the second half after trailing by 11 points. They would not be able to sustain that tempo throughout the rest of the game however, as Australia turned their intensity up a notch in the final quarter.

Similar to deny China’s upset bid in the First Round of the Asian Qualifiers, Australia kept Iran scoreless for a span of 4 minutes to go on an 11-0 run that brought their lead back up to double-digits for good.

All players got on the scoreboard for Australia except for young Rory Hawke, who nonetheless contributed with a steal and an assist in the final minute.

Iran’s comeback effort were led by Mohammad Jamshidi (17 points), Sajjad Mashayekhi (11 points), and Salar Monji (10 points) though it would not be enough to pull off the massive upset.

Turning points

NZL vs JOR: Once Ethan Rusbatch knocked down the sixth three-pointer of the first quarter for New Zealand to make it a 28-10 lead with a minute left, it just felt like it would be one of those days for the Tall Blacks. They just kept on going.

AUS vs IRI: Dejan Vasiljevic was on fire in the second half and it was his three-pointer at the 4-minute mark of the third quarter that knocked the wind out of Iran’s run. The two teams had been trading baskets and leads up until that point, and Vasiljevic’s triple gave the Boomers a two possession lead. They never looked back from there on out.

Game heroes

NZL vs JOR: Ben Gold had quite some moments in this game, stepping up as another young Tall Black with a bright future or Pero Cameron to utilize. He finished with 15 points, 8 rbeounds, and 2 blocks - one of which was a highlight rejection that was converted into quick points on the other end, courtesy of an assist by Gold himself.

AUS vs IRI: Coming off a game where he had 22 points against Bahrain, Vasiljevic had only 2 points in the first half against Iran. Before anyone could claim that he was in a slump, the sharpshooter exploded for 21 points in the second half. He’d finish with the game with 23 points.

Stats don’t lie

NZL vs JOR: With New Zealand getting a big lead early, they were able to rotate their players around on the court more freely, resulting in a massive 57 points off the bench. Jordan were already missing Ahmad Al Dwairi in this game, which meant that they didn’t have as much depth as they usually would and ended up with 15 points from their subs.

AUS vs IRI: Australia were just plainly more efficient at scoring the basketball in this game, despite the upset scare early in the second half. They shot way better from downtown (42.9 percent to 24 percent) and the free throw line (81.8 percent to 44.4 percent) with higher volume.

Tough to beat that.

Bottom line

The two undefeated teams in the Asian Qualifiers stay undefeated with 8 straight wins. Now they will have to just sit and wait for the results of the remaining games in this window to see if they can clinch World Cup qualification already.

Lebanon are hoping that the Philippines can beat Saudi Arabia, while Australia will be rooting for Bahrain to pull of an upset over China in the last game of the day.

FIBA