Basketball: Australia beat USA 98-94 in friendly match

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - Australia defeated the U.S. team 98-94 in the World Cup exhibition game on Saturday.

The loss was the team USA's first in a major international tournament since their defeat against Greece 101-95 in the 2006 FIBA World Championship semi-final match.

Head coach of the U.S. national team, Gregg Popovich, said that while the match's result was not a surprise with a new team, the Aussies had given them a great lesson.

"It’s a friendly so we want to keep it in context, but we did make history tonight as the first senior men’s Australian team to beat an American team," Australian center player Andrew Bogut told U.S. sports channel ESPN.

Guard Patty Mills scored 30 points, while Bogut scored 16 points, Joe Ingles had 15 and Aron Baynes produced 13 for the home side.

For the U.S. team, guard Kemba Walker's 22 points and forward Harrison Barnes' 20 points were not enough to win against "The Boomers" at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, this was the first win for Australia in 26 games between them.