AUSTRALIA was not about to let Iran pull off yet another miracle at its expense.
The reigning two-time champions were just too good and too formidable for Team Melli to overcome, 92-48, as they punched a third straight ticket to the finals of the FIBA Asia Cup Sunday morning.
Jack McVeigh, who had a brief stint with the Houston Rockets, shot 3-of-7 from deep to finish with a team-high 17 points, Harry Wessels with 16 points, and Williams Hickey with 14, six rebounds, and six assists for the Boomers, who will attempt to become the first team to win three successive titles since China won four straight from 1999-2005.
China itself will be there to try and stop Australia from accomplishing the feat, as it earlier clinched the first finals berth by beating New Zealand, 98-84, in the initial semifinals game at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The winner-take-all is set early Monday morning.
Iran came to the game on a high following its astounding 78-75 escape act against Chinese Taipei in a quarterfinal match where Team Melli came back from the depths of a 21-point deficit in the first half.
For a while, the Iranians appeared ready to take it to the Aussies, as they led 15-12.
That was until McVeigh, Hickey, and Wessels combined to outscore Iran in the final four minutes of the first period and the Boomers flipped the score to 27-20.
The reigning titlists didn’t let up from there, and were already ahead by 24 points just before both teams returned to their locker rooms at halftime.
The blowout extended the Boomers’ undefeated overall record to 17-0, dating back from the time they began to compete in the continental meet in 2017 when the Asia and Ocenia zones officially became one.
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This will be the first championship game between Australia and China, which boasts of the most number of golds won in the tournament with 16.
Team Dragon reached the finals for the first time since it hosted the 2015 edition in Changsha, where it beat Gilas Pilipinas for the crown.
Guard Sina Vahedi was the lone player to finish in double-figures for Iran with 11 points, as Team Melli was held to 26-percent field goal shooting.
The Iranians, who finished runners-up to the Australians in Lebanon eight years ago, were also outrebounded, 46-30, and had less assists, 9-18.
Team Melli will now play the Tall Blacks in the battle for bronze on Sunday evening.
The Scores:
AUSTRALIA 92 – McVeigh 17, Wessels 16, Hickey 14, White 11, Foxwell 7, Magnay 6, Bannan 5, Snith 5, Daniel 3, Cooks, 3, Henshall 3, Galloway 2.
IRAN 48 – Vahedi 11, Sheikhi 8, Monji 6, Aghajanpour 6, Rahimi 5, Heydari 4, Rezaeifar 3, Aliakbari 3, Amini 2, Kazemi 0, Zangeneh 0, Jafari 0.
Quarters: 27-20; 51-29: 80-37; 92-48.
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