Australian Boomers guard Nathan Sobey played a starring role in the thumping FIBA World Cup qualifying victory over Kazakhstan in Bendigo on Monday night.
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The Warrnambool Seahawks export scored 15 points, 11 in a first-half blitz, four assists and three steals in the Boomers’ 94-41 victory.
The win improved their record to 7-1 in the qualifying stages, which inched them closer to guaranteeing their spot in next year’s tournament in China.
The 28-year-old Adelaide 36ers star said he relished the rare opportunity to play a Boomers match in regional Victoria.
“It’s awesome to get back into country Victoria and my family were here so it was great to see them again,” Sobey said after the game.
“It’s great to have these sort of events in regional places and promote the game.
“As a kid you always want to see the guys you follow throughout your childhood so being able to play in front of those sort of people is huge for basketball in Australia.”
Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis praised his players, after a quick-fire turnaround from their victory over Qatar in Doha last Friday morning.
“To beat anyone in international competition by 50 points takes certain resolve and attitude and regardless of the scoreline our application and defence was spot on,” he said.
“I’m really proud of the group and how they maintained that and didn’t let the game get ratty at any point, we maintained a quality in our performance which is pleasing and tough to do.”
With Iran losing to Japan on Monday night, the Boomers are sole leaders in their group and if results go in their favour may only need one more win to lock in their place. The top three, plus the best fourth-place getter, in the two pools go through.
“Just having a casual observation of it, I think if we win our next two games at home we should be in and maybe one win is enough as if Iran come in and we beat them that should be enough,” Lemanis said.
“All we can do is play the games as they present in front of us and if you start getting lost in the results then the results don’t go your way.”
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