Duo's Boomers open Asia Cup campaign with win over Korea

The Australian Boomers, headlined by Sydney's Xavier Cooks and Jaylin Galloway, have opened their FIBA Asia Cup defence, beating Korea 97-61 in Saudi Arabia.

Australia is the reigning Asia Cup men's champion after the women also claimed the crown for 2025 last month, and with new head coach Adam Caporn at the helm, they have an imposing lineup at their disposal for the tournament in Saudi Arabia.

Jaylin Galloway, Xavier Cooks, Jack White, Jack McVeigh and Will Magnay all bring NBA experience to the Boomers team on top of what they've done in the NBL.

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Top that off with emerging talents Ben Henshall, Josh Bannan, Dash Daniels, Reyne Smith and Harry Wessels, and rising NBL stars Davo Hickey and Owen Foxwell, and it's easy to see why they are warm favourites.

Australia then made a flying start to their opening game at the Asia Cup with the first seven points of the game against Korea before it was Illawarra Hawks NBL champion Hyunjung Lee that got his team on the board after a timeout.

The Boomers went on to lead 25-17 by quarter-time after that and then went into the half-time break on top 48-31 thanks to a triple on the buzzer from Sydney Kings forward Galloway.

By the break, McVeigh already had 15 points with five triples to his name just over 24 hours after being announced as the marquee signing of the Cairns Taipans for NBL26.

The Boomers made 10/16 from three in that first half for the 17-point lead which only continued to grow throughout the second half getting to 21 by three quarter-time, and then 36 by the final buzzer thanks to 29 points to 14 in the last period.

Jack McVeigh played his first game since signing at the Snakes and ended up with 20 points with 5/7 three-point shooting while Jaylin Galloway showed that he's ready to hit back hard in NBL26 with 12 points on 4/5 shooting from deep.

Davo Hickey produced another 11 points while also making both his three-point attempts with Owen Foxwell delivering nine points and three assists, Xavier Cooks 10 points and seven rebounds, Ben Henshall eight points and two boards, and another new Taipan Reyne Smith seven points and three rebounds.

Junghyun Lee top-scored for Korea with 20 points while Hyunjung Lee added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Seounghyun Lee nine points and four boards.

The FIBA Asia Cup 2025 got underway on Tuesday which included a first up win for New Zealand with the Tall Blacks defeating Iraq 100-78.

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That included New Zealand having a 37-point fourth quarter with returning Breakers guard Taylor Britt delivering 21 points, six assists and six rebounds with Mojave King adding 18 points, and Brisbane Bullets big man Tohi Smith-Milner 13 points with three triples.

The Tall Blacks will be back in action on Thursday against the Philippines before the Boomers play again on Friday night local time against Lebanon.