Nick Kay's Boomers side overcame a third quarter scare to open their FIBA World Cup campaign with a 108-92 win over Canada.
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The Boomers put together three strong quarters in China to win their Group H clash, but were tested with Canada going on a 22-5 run during the third quarter to lead by one at the final break.
The Boomers regained the lead early in the final period and were never headed from there, Matthew Dellavedova leading the Boomers charge with a game-high 24 points.
Kay saw just under 18 minutes and made a solid contribution, scoring eight points and picking up three rebounds (two offensive and one defensive).
"There was some things we did really well for periods of the game. Some of the defensive stuff was good," Boomers coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"They scored 23 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter and that's obviously something that we can go back and have a look at and try to fix moving forwards."
"But outside of that five minutes I was really pleased with the effort that we gave and it was to be tested like that in a game that matters and find a way to just hold our nerve, get back together, start playing some good basketball and work our way to what ended up being a good solid win."
The Boomers' next assignment is against Senegal on Tuesday.
