Boomers go unbeaten through group stage as Geraldton’s Alex Ducas drops first points

The Boomers have gone unbeaten through the group stage of the Asia Cup in Indonesia as young stars came to the fore.

Geraldton’s Alex Ducas upped his game time to 19 minutes, playing the fourth most minutes of any Boomer, against Saudi Arabia last Thursday and scored his first points for his country hitting a lay-up with one and a half minutes left in the second quarter.

But another young star came to the fore in Keanu Pinder. Keanu, son of Tiny, grabbed 13 points off the bench and six rebounds in 12 and a half minutes of court time to help the team to a 76-52 victory.

Australia was sluggish in their last match against hosts Indonesia on Saturday as they took a shock five-point lead after the opening term.

But the Boomers responded in the second outscoring the hosts 23 to eight in the term to wrest control of the game.

Tyrese Proctor top scored with 14 points while Ducas played a healthy amount of court time but was let down by his inaccurate shooting.

Ducas finished with an average of 1.7 points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal across the group stage.

The results meant Australia finished top of their group going straight through to the quarter-finals.