Australia beat Japan to battle into the next round of the Basketball World Cup on Tuesday, while Germany, the Dominican Republic, Lithuania and Canada all advanced with perfect records.

Italy, Montenegro and Latvia joined them in the next phase, while France salvaged a measure of pride after their shock early exit with a hard-fought win over Lebanon.

Australia needed to beat Japan after their narrow loss to Germany on Sunday and they rose to the occasion against the tournament cohosts in Okinawa, winning 109-89.

Head coach Brian Goorjian said the Boomers were “playing for their life”.

“I’m happy to move to this next stage with this group because I think we’re getting better as the tournament goes on,” he said.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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