The first game of international basketball at the new Bendigo Stadium was a winning one for the Australian Boomers.
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The Boomers trounced Kazakhstan 94-41 in front a parochial home crowd to move a step closer to qualification for next year’s World Cup.
It was the Boomers’ second 50-point plus win in fours days after they outclassed Qatar on Friday.
“I was really pleased with the discipline and the intent in which we went about our business in these two games,’’ Boomers’ coach Andrej Lemanis said.
“To beat anybody at international competition by 50 points takes a certain resolve and takes a certain attitude.
“Regardless of the scoreline, our application as ateam defensively was spot on and I’m proud of the group for the way they were able to maintain that and not let the game get raggedy.”
The Boomers’ defensive performance was outstanding.
They forced the visitors into 34 turnovers for the match and scored 38 points off those turnovers.
Kazakhstan is renowned for its three-point shooting and the Boomers’ perimeter defence was superb.
The Boomers restricted the visitors to 3-17 shooting from behind the three-point arc.
Warrnambool’s Nathan Sobey sparked the Boomers with an impressive first half.
The athletic guard had 11 points, two assists, two steals and one rebound in the opening half.
He finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Mitch McCarron also had 15 points for the Boomers, while Daniel Johnson backed up his good performance against Qatar with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Johnson and Todd Blanchfield played big minutes at the centre and power forward positions after the Boomers lost big men Angus Brandt (ankle) and Matt Hodgson (calf) to injuries in the first half.
Anthony Drimic (ankle) was also forced to sit out most of the second half.
The injuries put the trio in doubt for Thursday’s NBL Blitz pre-season tournament in Bendigo.
Lemanis eased star guard Chris Goulding back into the action.
After serving a one-match suspension, Goulding played limited minutes off the bench.
He only had one field goal attempt in the first half, which was a three-point prayer on the half-time buzzer.
He found his range in the second-half to finish with seven points.
The Boomers remain on top of Group F and only need to finish in the top three to qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Their next games are in Melbourne for a double-header on November 30 and December 3 against Iran and Qatar.
