Japan’s World Cup run ends with loss to Australia

Co-host Japan’s bid to succeed in the second spherical of the FIBA Basketball World Cup ended Tuesday with a 109-89 loss to heavyweight Australia.

Trying to emulate Sunday’s thrilling 98-88 comeback win over Finland, world No. 36 Japan ran right into a brick wall within the type of No. 3 Australia at Okinawa Enviornment.

Head coach Brian Goorjian’s Olympic bronze medal-winning crew mixed a strong inside presence with unrelenting protection to outgun a Japanese aspect that solely confirmed glimpses of its greatest and couldn’t maintain tempo within the must-win recreation for each groups.