Two weeks ago in Las Vegas, the Boomers were 39 points
better than Nigeria but in today’s encounter at the Saitama Super Arena, Coach
Mike Brown’s team got off to a good start but in the crucial stages of the
match, poor shooting let them.
Both teams combined for 46 turnovers with Australia
contributing 22. The first quarter was a tight affair, it ended 23-23 and the
direction of the match was hinged on the second-quarter performance.
Australia won it 20-17. Nigeria lost seven free throws,
easily they would have taken the lead into the break.
In the third quarter, the arena’s buzzer couldn’t function
properly and that affected the momentum of the game. Notwithstanding, the
Boomers got their shooting right, Nigeria struggled with theirs and lost the
quarter 15-12.
In the 4th quarter, Patty Mills took things personally with
exceptional shooting and the Boomers won 26-15 to wrap up a fine performance
with defense being the main focus for coach Brian Goorjian’s team.
Mills was Australia’s best performer with 25 points while
Joe Ingles and Dante Exum recorded 11 apiece. Nigeria’s Obi Emegano had 12
points, Josh Okogie finished the game with 11 points while Jordan Nwora and
Precious Achiuwa recorded 10 points each.
The D’Tigers will hope to make amends when they take on
Germany in their second group match on Wednesday, 28th July.
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