Mix of Boomers shine over Indonesia

A blend of experience led by Mitch McCarron, young bigs David Okwera, Emmett Adair and Ben Griscti, and the shooting mentality of Elijah Pepper all shone as the Australian Boomers won their FIBA Asia Cup Qualifier 109-58 over Indonesia.

It's the final window for the Asia Cup Qualifiers ahead of the tournament in Saudi Arabia later this year with the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium the host just as it was for an NBL game last month between the South East Melbourne Phoenix and Brisbane Bullets.

The Boomers kept their perfect qualifying record alive with the 51-point victory on the back of going on a 15-0 run in the first quarter while holding Indonesia to just four points those entire first 10 minutes.

All 12 Boomers players scored in the game and from the 42 field goals and 11 free throws made, the team had 33 assists highlighting just how well the ball moved and the unselfishness of everyone involved.

The Boomers also finished with 51 rebounds to 31 including 21 at the offensive end to five for 26 second chance points to two along with 21 points off Indonesia's 17 turnovers while Australia only turned it over twice themselves.

Perth Wildcats guard Elijah Pepper got up nine more shots from his nearest teammate and ended up with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Boomers with his 'Cats teammate David Okwera adding 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

The Loyola University bound Emmett Adair was mighty impressive too with 15 points including some nice finishes at the rim with emerging Adelaide 36ers centre Ben Griscti adding 12 points and six rebounds.

Fabijan Krslovic (Tasmania JackJumpers) added nine points and four assists, Mitch McCarron (NZ Breakers) nine points and eight assists, Luke Fennell (South East Melbourne Phoenix) eight points, and Nick Kay seven points and nine rebounds.

Mitch Norton (Brisbane Bullets) also had six points and three assists, Nick Marshall (36ers) four points, four boards and three assists, Isaac White (Bullets) three points, five rebounds and four assists, and Jacob Furphy three points.

Lester Prosper did a power of work against the tide for Indonesia playing over 35 minutes and finishing with 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists despite only shooting 5/17 from the field.

Yudha Saputera was the only other Indonesian player to score in double-figures with 14 points.

Australia get the 51-point win against Indonesia in Traralgon 🇦🇺@PerthWildcats guard Elijah Pepper top scored for the Boomers finishing with 18 points 🤩 pic.twitter.com/l9S7e5k8hN

— NBL (@NBL) February 20, 2025

It was slow going early after Nick Kay opened the scoring on the back of the on-point inbounds pass from old Townsville, Illawarra and Perth NBL teammate Mitch Norton.

The Boomers only added two more points in the first five minutes of the game, a bucket to Isaac White, while Indonesia didn’t score until Muhamad Arighi Noor knocked down a three-pointer just over five minutes in.

The Boomers then blew the game open by catching fire and scoring the next 15 straight points including three balls to emerging big men Ben Griscti and David Okwera, and to guards Norton and Elijah Pepper.

Luke Fennell then landed another three to give Australia the 22-4 lead by quarter-time and a few minutes into the second quarter and the Boomers had turned that into a commanding 33-8 advantage following a couple of finishes to Mitch McCarron.

Pepper knocked down another couple of three balls and Griscti hit another from long-range too and the Boomers were well in control with a 50-22 lead by half-time on the back of hitting 19 field goals with 18 assists.

It was another fast start to the second half for the Boomers with a 10-2 run capped off by a triple to Brisbane Bullets guard White.

Young big man Emmett Adair then had a purple patch with six quick points before Okwera made another long ball, Nick Marshall completed a three-point play and Australia's advantage was out to 77-39 by three quarter-time.

Fabijan Krslovic had already thrown down several dunks before the Tasmania JackJumpers big man hit a three to open the fourth quarter and Jacob Furphy and McCarron soon followed suit.

Adair had another flurry of scoring seven quick points and then Fennell closed out the game with another from beyond the three-point arc on the way to the eventual 51-point victory.

The Boomers remain in Gippsland to take on Thailand on Sunday afternoon in the last game of the FIBA Asia Qualifiers ahead of the tournament in Saudi Arabia later this year.

FIBA ASIA CUP QUALIFIERS

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 109 (Pepper 18, Okwera 15, Adair 15)

INDONESIA 58 (Prosper 18, Saputera 14, Grahita 9)

BOX SCORE