DONGGUAN, China, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- A crazy fourth quarter with a 32-15 scoreline helped Australia to beat Canada 108-92 in Group H of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 here on Sunday.
Australia scored a 7-0 run in the end of the first quarter with 29-20, and widened the gap to 12 points with 52-40 after the second quarter.
With a great run of 15-3, Canada equalized in the beginning of the third quarter, then led with 77-76 after the third quarter. Australia's 8-0 run in the beginning of the last quarter helped them seal the victory, 108-92.
"I'm happy to win the first game, we made a good defence, we got in trouble in the third quarter, but we fought back in the last quarter. We got 24 assists, which shows that everybody is willing to pass for the team," said Andrej Lemanis, head coach of Australia.
Six players from Australia harvested scores in the double digits, and Matthew Dellavedova, who plays for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers pocketed a game-high 24 points.
"I don't expect we can score so high in the game, and I hope we can continue this trend to play with Lithuania, playing in the right way and having good defense," Lemanis added.
Canada's Khem Birch of the Orlando Magic had a team-high 18 points, and Cory Joseph from Indiana Pacers scored 16 points.
"The start was not very good, the middle is excellent but we didn't play well in the last quarter, we didn't create good shots. we also got a lot of experience," Canada head coach Nick Nurse said. "We don't really have a choice in this group, we have to win the first two, so we must try our best in the next games."
Australia and Canada are all powerhouses in Group H, which has been dubbed the "Group of Death." Team Australia, with five NBA players, beat the USA 98-94 in a warm-up game, ending a run of 78 straight wins by the U.S. men's basketball team.
Although some NBA heavyweights are absent from the ranks here in China, Birch and Joseph are set to form the spine of the Canadian team.
Australia will meet Senegal and Canada will play against Lithuania on September 3.
