TRARALGON (Australia) - Australia put up another dominant performance to beat Thailand anew, 114-64, and complete their sweep of Group A in the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 Qualifiers at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium, Sunday.
The defending, two-time continental champions reversed a one-point deficit behind a 13-3 run to end the first quarter in their favor, 28-16, then opened the floodgates come the next frame and the match would never be in question since then.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Boomers had successfully accomplished finishing the tilt without a loss as they wrapped it up with a clean 6-0 record - indeed a strong statement to the competition that they're keen on securing a 'three-peat.'
Just like in their rout of Indonesia last Thursday, all 12 players scored in the victory, with Elijah Pepper leading the pack with 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Isaac White made 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists as he sparked the aforementioned run, converting a three-point play and then following it up with a jumper before Mitch McCarron, Jacob Furphy and Nick Kay helped finish it up.
Kay finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Mitchell Norton supplied 13 points while David Okwera added 11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks in the triumph that saw the home team shoot an excellent 55.8-percent from the floor.
That display of offense was big thanks to the 34 assists they dished out as a team, and also to the way they hustled as the squad collected 53 rebounds.
Freddie Lish, meanwhile, had 15 points to lead Thailand, who couldn't emulate the performance they put up to nearly upset Korea the last time out in Bangkok.
The Southeast Asian side ended the Qualifiers at 2-4 but their Asia Cup hopes remain alive as they're bound for the Qualifying Tournament for Third-Place Teams.
Koreans roll past Timnas in Jakarta
Meanwhile, Korea erupted in the second quarter and kept their mastery of Indonesia, 90-63, at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta for a strong finish to the Qualifiers.
The visitors from East Asia nailed four of their 12 three-pointers in the said period, all while doing the dirty work on the defensive end as they overpowered their foes, 25-7, to build 49-24 lead entering the halftime intermission, never to let up.
It was indeed the kind of showing Coach An Joon Ho would love to see from his wards whenever they compete, especially after riding their luck to escape Nattakarn Muangboon and Thailand by way of a 91-90 decision in Bangkok last Thursday.
That's why it no longer came as a surprise that the traditional contenders - who are already Asia Cup-bound - jumped to a big lead early, eventually finishing Window 3 with back-to-back wins to conclude their Qualifiers run with a 4-2 record.
All 12 players tallied at least 4 in the win, with Lee Woosuk top-scoring with 13 points - spiked by three triples - which he laced with 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
The trio of Ha Yungi, An Youngjun, and Lee Seounghyun all finished with 10 points apiece for Korea, who made 53.7-percent of their field goals and had 26 assists.
FIBA