Hero Hickey as Boomers beat Tall Blacks

He made himself an NBL championship hero last season and now Davo Hickey has hit a game clinching three-pointers with the Australian Boomers opening the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers beating the New Zealand Tall Blacks 84-79.

The trans-Tasman rivals locked horns on Friday night at Hobart's MyState Bank Arena in the opening game of the Asian Qualifiers leading towards the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.

The Boomers were up against it at half-time trailing by six before a blistering start to the second half going on a 15-2 run, but the Tall Blacks soon steadied and it was a tight affair the rest of the way.

In the end, it was a three-point dagger from Illawarra Hawks championship star Hickey with 34 seconds left on the clock to put the Boomers four points in front before they ended up completing the five-point victory.

There was plenty of current NBL talent across the two teams with nine of the 12 Boomers players currently in the league while the other three, Keanu Pinder, Jack White and Nick Kay, have been part of it previously with the team coached by Melbourne United's Dean Vickerman.

The Tall Blacks were also coached by Breakers assistant Judd Flavell while their team featured 11 currently NBL26 players with the other being former New Zealand and South East Melbourne big man Yanni Wetzell.

The two teams are part of Group A in the first stage of World Cup qualifiers along with Guam and the Philippines so Friday night presented a chance to make a winning start.

And it was the Boomers narrowly leading 27-24 by the end of the opening quarter thanks to 63 per cent shooting from the field despite the eight points and two rebounds for the Tall Blacks from Brisbane Bullets centre Tyrell Harrison.

New Zealand then outscored Australia 24-15 in the second quarter and went into half-time leading 48-42 on the back of nine offensive rebounds to four which led to 10 second chance points to two, and 28 points in the paint to 16.

The Boomers went 6/18 from three-point territory in that first half and only attempted 16 shots inside the arc with Jaylin Galloway enjoying good success going 3/5 for 13 points going into the break.

Australia then shot out of the blocks to open the second half scoring 15 of the first 17 points to turn that six-point deficit into a seven-point lead of their own, but New Zealand weren’t going anywhere.

Scores were all level by three quarter-time before the Boomers did limit the Tall Blacks to just 12 points in the final frame and it was Hickey's three-point bomb in the final minute that ended up sealing the deal for Australia in Hobart.

New Zealand still ended up dominating the glass with 49 rebounds to 36 overall along with 18 offensive boards to eight for 17 second chance points to six, but the Boomers ended up forcing them into 15 turnovers from which they scored 16 points.

Sydney King Jaylin Galloway still ended up top-scoring for Australia with 19 points with three rebounds, two assists and two steals with South East Melbourne Phoenix guard Angus Glover adding 17 points with 4/12 three-point shooting.

Hickey finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists, Jack White 10 points, four boards and two steals, Nick Kay eight points and eight rebounds, Keanu Pinder seven points and four boards, and Josh Bannan seven points and four rebounds in just 10 minutes.

Sam Mennenga has been one of the elite bigs in the NBL this season with the Breakers and he continued that form with the Tall Blacks with 19 points and 10 rebounds, including six at the offensive end.

Adelaide 36ers guard Flynn Cameron also had 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals with Melbourne United forward Finn Delany finishing with 10 points and three boards.

Harrison only ended up with one more rebound after quarter-time for eight points and three rebounds for the game with Yanni Wetzell also having seven points and eight boards, and Taylor Britt seven points.

The Boomers and Tall Blacks now do it all again on Monday in Wellington before the resumption of the NBL season on Wednesday.

FIBA WORLD CUP ASIA QUALIFIERS – FIRST ROUND GROUP A

AUSTRALIAN BOOMERS 84 (Galloway 19, Glover 17, Hickey 12)

NEW ZEALAND TALL BLACKS 79 (Mennenga 19, Cameron 15, Delany 10)

BOX SCORE