Brutal Boomers breeze past Kazakhstan

Mitch McCarron was handing out the assists and Nick Marshall was throwing down slam dunks as Australia made light work of Kazakhstan 98-53 in Melbourne on Sunday afternoon.

The Boomers led from the opening tip and found their groove quite early as a red-hot Todd Blanchfield helped Australia finish their 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian qualifying campaign with a convincing 45-point success at the State Basketball Centre.

Adelaide 36ers captain McCarron dished an game-high five assists to go with seven points, three rebounds and three steals.

Marshall, who made the most of his eight minutes on the floor, pulled down two rebounds, dished two assists and threw down a fast break slam dunk just before full time.

Blanchfield, who top-scored against Bahrain on Thursday night, proved too much for Kazakhstan as he knocked down seven triples in his game-high 31 points for Australia.

The Aussie swingman had the best individual score by a Boomer since Patty Mills famously poured in 42 points against Slovenia to secure Australia a bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Kyle Adnam added 20 points as the Boomers topped Group F with an 11-1 record – their only loss a forfeit when they didn’t travel to Iran under government advice.

Kazakhstan finished second-last with a 5-7 record, their 12-point loss to China in Hong Kong last Thursday effectively eliminating them from the World Cup race.

Ruslain Aitkali (12 points at 63 per cent) impressed for the visitors, who matched the Aussies early but came undone by turning the ball over on numerous occasions, having 20 0f their 28 in the opening half.

Australia got the early jump but again some wayward shooting allowed Kazakhstan to close the gap to 26-22 midway through the second term.

Boomers coach Dean Vickerman called a time-out and the Aussies responded with an 18-0 burst, capped by Dan Grida’s dunk as Kazakhstan fell apart on offence.

Blanchfield caught fire with 16 third-quarter points in six minutes as Australia outscored Kazakhstan 33-11 to stretch their 46-27 halftime cushion to 79-38 at three-quarter-time.

Adnam got cooking in the final 10 minutes and Marshall finished off the game in style.

AUSTRALIA 98 (Blanchfield 31, Adnam 20, Kay 11) def KAZAKHSTAN 53 (Aitkali 12) at the State Basketball Centre, Melbourne.

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