Boomers overrun Tall Blacks in Game 1

DJ Vasiljevic and Elijah Pepper combined for 10 three-pointers as the Australian Boomers took control in the second half for the 80-68 win over the New Zealand Tall Blacks to open the Trans-Tasman Throwdown.

It's a big week of basketball with the three games between the Boomers and Tall Blacks starting on Wednesday night at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre before moving to the Sunshine Coast on Friday and then Hamilton on Sunday.

It took two minutes for either team to score and it was Reuben Te Rangi opening things up with a three-point play for New Zealand ahead of his return to the Breakers in NBL26.

Shea Ili and Tohi Smith-Milner then combined to give the Tall Blacks the 8-3 start and despite a couple of triples each to Vasiljevic and Pepper, New Zealand were still leading 27-23 by the end of one.

Vasiljevic landed a couple more threes to open the second term but the Tall Blacks answered and by half-time were still leading 42-37. They shot slightly better at 38 per cent to 33, and going to the line 13 times to eight.

New Zealand were then up six early in the third quarter, but that's when Australia took complete control and closed the term scoring 18 of the last 21 points.

That included the last 12 points straight with a three ball to Angus Glover on the buzzer to turn that six-point deficit into a nine-point lead.

That turned into a 15-0 run to start the last quarter and then Pepper went on a stretch of three straight long balls to continue his form from the NBL1 West. He's averaging 43.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists for the unbeaten Warwick Senators.

From there the Boomers ended up scoring the 12-point win and it was Adelaide 36ers captain Vasiljevic delivering 23 points with 5/11 three-point shooting.

Pepper knocked down 5/10 from deep for 16 points while Glover contributed 10 points and seven rebounds, Harry Wessels seven points and eight boards, and Mitch Norton six points, four rebounds and four assists.

Te Rangi ended up with 15 points and eight rebounds for New Zealand with Ili adding 12 points and five boards, Breakers excitement machine Carlin Davison 11 points and five rebounds, and Brisbane Bullets big man Tohi Smith-Milner 10 points and two boards.

The night's action got underway at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre with the women's match up with the Opals ending up beating the Tall Ferns 88-70, but having to come from behind to do so and finishing the game on a 21-4 run to seal the victory.

Perth Lynx WNBL guard Miela Sowah was the star of the win for the Opals with 23 points on 7/10 shooting from the field, 4/7 from downtown and 5/5 from the free-throw line.

The rest of the Australian team only managed to shoot 22/65 at 34 per cent from the floor, and 2/21 at 9.5 per cent from three-point range.

Alex Fowler also had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Courtney Woods 11 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Sharne Robati has been playing with the Casey Cavaliers of NBL1 South and had 19 points to lead the charge for the Tall Ferns.

The Trans-Tasman Throwdown will continue on Friday on the Sunshine Coast with the men first up at 5:40pm local time before the women's clash is at 7:55pm.

TRANS-TASMAN THROWDOWN – GAME 1

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 80 (Vasiljevic 23, Pepper 16, Glover 10)

NEW ZEALAND TALL BLACKS 68 (Te Rangi 15, Ili 12, Davison 11)

BOX SCORE