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A stellar second half from Australian forward Mark Worthington helped the Boomers overcome a scare from Iran and record an 88-65 win in Melbourne tonight.
Worthington finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, including 18 points after halftime, to be the main factor in the win after the visitors had threatened a major upset.
After comfortable wins in the first two games of their three-game series – by 19 points in Perth and 44 in Adelaide – the Boomers looked headed for another landslide in the opening term tonight.
With centre Chris Anstey on fire early with nine points in the first five minutes, they were quickly out to a 19-point lead, reduced to 16 at the first change by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Iran’s Sammah Nikkhah.
But the match changed complexion completely in the second term, with Iran outscoring the Boomers 20-12 to pull within eight points at the long break.
Iran’s comeback was helped by Anstey and star guard CJ Bruton sitting out the second quarter.
Australian coach Brian Goorjian tested out other players in his line-up, ahead of an expected paring back of his 18-man squad to 15 tomorrow as their Beijing Olympics preparation continues.
But the Boomers game evaporated at both ends of the court.
Nikkhah (24 points) and Hamed Afagh (13 points) fired in three-pointers at one end, while the Australians were mis-firing offensively.
But, while Anstey and Bruton returned to the court to start the second half, it was Worthington who stopped the rot for Australia.
He had seven points and six rebounds for the term, the highlight a three-point play after he picked up an offensive board late in the quarter.
It helped the Boomers to an 11-point lead at the last change and Worthington opened the final term with a three-pointer to extend that to 14.
He led Australia in both points and boards, with his rebounding particularly valuable, given the Boomers mostly struggled in that area against Iranian giant Hamed Hadadi.
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