Boomers Hold off Fast Finishing China in Melbourne

The Australian Boomers remain undefeated in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers but they had to dig deep to survive a China fightback on Thursday night before winning 76-69.

The Boomers hosted China at John Cain Arena on Thursday night to open this week's run of three FIBA World Cup qualifying match ups, and the home team was on top most of the first half and led by as much as 16 points.

However, the size advantage of China came into play the longer the game went led by Zhou Qi who was back on his home floor from this past NBL season when he was with the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

That saw China draw level in the fourth quarter on a couple of occasions, but ultimately a breakaway dunk from Jack White, and triples from Clint Steindl and Will McDowell-White helped seal the seven-point Boomers win.

The majority of the rest of the team have been playing NBL1 across the country of late including Todd Blanchfield, Mitch McCarron, Sam Froling and Jack McVeigh in NBL1 North throughout Queensland, and Jack White in NBL1 South at Geelong.

McVeigh added 11 points while White contributed 10 points and four assists, Clint Steindl eight points, Blanchfield seven points, three rebounds and three assists, and Froling six points and seven boards.

The Boomers back up by hosting Japan on Friday night before again taking on China on Sunday.

FIBA WORLD CUP ASIAN QUALIFIERS

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 76 (Dellavedova 16, McCarron 13, McVeigh 11)

CHINA 69 (Zhou Qi 16, Guo Ailun 12, Gu Quan 12) 

BOX SCORE