Game Report: Boomers go 2-0 in Saudi Arabia

Jaylin Galloway scored 10 quick points for the Australian Boomers to start 20-4 in their second game at the FIBA Asia Cup and that set the tone for the eventual 93-80 victory against a gallant Lebanon.

The Boomers started their Asia Cup defence in Saudi Arabia with a 36-point win against Korea back on Wednesday ahead of backing up against a Lebanon team expecting to be one of the contenders for the 2025 tournament.

Australia got off to a flying start with Galloway knocking down a three ball to begin proceedings as he gears up for his return NBL season at the Sydney Kings off shoulder surgery.

By the time South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Owen Foxwell knocked down a three just over three minutes into the game and the Boomers were out to a 15-2 advantage in a dominant opening.

That turned into 20-4 shortly after when Galloway knocked down another three ball to give him half of those 20 points in the opening four minutes.

Australia were well in control leading 31-14 by the end of the first quarter and while that remained roughly the margin for the rest of the contest, Lebanon deserve enormous credit for pushing the Boomers over the last three quarters.

Australia went into half-time leading 58-38 and then had pushed that 20-point lead into the 24-point advantage by three quarter-time, but things then got interesting to start the fourth stanza.

Lebanon shot out of the blocks scoring the first eight points and a couple of times throughout the final term did they get back within 13 points, but the Boomers did enough to score the 13-point win despite being outscored 20 points to nine in the last 10 minutes.

While it was still a solid win for the Boomers, the shooting numbers did plummet as the game went on with it ending up at just 40.5 per cent from the floor and 28.2 from three-point range with 11/39.

But Australia did have 21 offensive rebounds for 18 second chance points to remain undefeated two games into their Asia Cup defence.

Jaylin Galloway finished the game with 18 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for Australia with 6/8 shooting from the field, 2/3 from deep and 4/4 from the foul line.

New Cairns Taipans sharpshooter Reyne Smith also had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists while his new NBL teammate Jack McVeigh produced 11 points and three assists.

Xavier Cooks also had nine points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks, Owen Foxwell seven points, four boards and four assists, Harry Wessels six points and three rebounds, Jack White six points and 10 boards, and Will Magnay six points and two blocks.

Youssef Khayat top-scored for Lebanon with 22 points and six rebounds with Ali Mansour adding 12 points, six boards and five assists, Karim Zeinoun 11 points, three assists and three steals, and Ali Haidar 11 points and six rebounds.

Australia will finish the group phase of their Asia Cup on Sunday against Qatar on the way to the quarter finals as their title defence heats up.

Meanwhile, on Thursday New Zealand also scored their second straight win of the group phase with the 94-86 victory against the Philippines.

Former Breakers and Cairns Taipans NBL player Jordan Ngatai delivered 22 points in the win for the Tall Blacks with returning Breakers guard Taylor Britt producing 19 points and eight assists.

New Adelaide 36ers guard Flynn Cameron added 12 points and three assists with Mojave King providing 11 points and two assists, and Brisbane Bullets big man Tohi Smith-Milner eight points, five rebounds and four assists.

New Zealand now finish their group phase on Saturday night Saudi Arabia time against Chinese Taipei.

FIBA ASIA CUP SAUDI ARABIA 2025 GROUP PHASE

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 93 (Galloway 18, Smith 18, McVeigh 11)

LEBANON 80 (Khayat 22, Mansour 12, Haidar 11, Zeinoun 11)

BOX SCORE

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