THE AUSTRALIAN Boomers have secured a spot in the World Cup after an emphatic win in their 2022 FIBA Asian Qualifiers campaign, recording a 97-50 triumph over Kazakhstan overnight, completely outperforming the opposition from the very first minute of play.

The game was essentially decided in the first quarter, with the Aussies jumping out to a 39-8 lead in the opening period of the match. Kazakhstan could not take advantage of having the home court, and found themselves outclassed against quite a stacked Australian side.

There were a number of strong individual performers for the Boomers, with Sam Froling at the forefront with the only double-double of the match. He finished the match with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 6/10 shooting from the field in a breakout performance for the 22-year-old internationally. Scoring machine Dejan Vasiljevic was also damaging with ball in hand, finishing the match with 13 points, including three baskets from behind the arc, while Jack McVeigh and Angus Brandt both poured in 10 points apiece, with the latter doing it in just seven minutes.

Kazakhstan (50) def. by Australia (97)

As mentioned above, the Aussies got off to the perfect start with a 31-point advantage by the time the first break rolled around. The Boomers were firing on all cylinders, picking apart the opposition defence and looking to the likes of Vasiljevic and McVeigh for consistent buckets. Despite some star talent dropping out over the course of the past week, it is evident the Aussies still have enough guns to succeed in the tournament.

The Boomers shot significantly more accurate from both two-point (57 per cent to 32 per cent) and three-point (41 per cent to 15 per cent) territory. The shooting percentages were an accurate representation of how one-sided the match was, with the Aussies never in any real danger of blowing their lead, winning all four quarters of the match.

The Aussies went into the fifth window unbeaten, and needed just one more win to qualify for next year’s World Cup, which will be held in the Philippines, Indonesia and Japan from 25 August-10 September 2023.

In the night’s other matches, China claimed a nine-point win over Iran, while Japan was 13 points too good for Bahrain.