The former Warrnambool Seahawk, a shooting guard, got on the floor late in the first quarter. He was also on court early in the second stanza.

South-west fans will now be keen to see how he goes in Australia's second game which is against Italy on Wednesday at 6.20pm (AEST) before a match-up with Germany on Saturday at 6.20pm (AEST).

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It was a tight tussle in the first half against Nigeria.

Nigeria got the first four points but the Boomers settled after a Joe Ingles three-pointer to open their account.

Australia's pressure was up and it scored 10 of its first 19 points from turnovers.

Captain Patty Mills led from the front early, hitting two three-pointers.

Nathan Sobey came on in the final minute of the first quarter and the scores were level (23-23) at the first break.

He was on court in the first minute of the second quarter too.

The Boomers struggled to find rhythm in the second.

Nigeria were 5/9 from beyond the three-point arc to the beginning of the second stanza and playing solid defence at the other end.

Scores were tied at 34-a-piece halfway through the second when the Boomers started to build momentum.

Ingles sank another three-pointer to make it 39-34.

But the Boomers had a high foul count and Nigeria kept visiting the free-throw line and were accurate enough to keep it close - the Aussies up 43-40 at half-time.

The Boomers bounced to a 49-40 lead early in the third quarter.

Nigeria was letting itself down at the free-throw line hitting just 10 from 17 attempts to early in the third term.

Nigeria got the game back to 55-49 before there was delay in play due to a score bench issue for about five minutes. It was 58-52 at the final break.

Matisse Thybulle nailed a three-pointer to stretch the lead to 64-56 early in the fourth stanza.

Mills, who was Australia's best, continued his strong performance with a three-pointer and then he sunk three free-throws after being fouled beyond the arc.

The Aussies got on a roll and ran out 84-65 winners.

Germany and Italy are also in group B.

Italy defeated Germany 92-82 in the other group B game on Sunday.

The Italians stormed home after being down by four points at the final break.

Czech Republic defeated Islamic Republic of Iran 84-78 in pool A on Sunday.

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