WEST Australian big man Luke Nevill helped keep the Boomers in touch of China in Game 1 of the Sino-Australia Challenge before Australian rookies Brock Motum and Lucas Walker stepped up, and now coach Andrej Lemanis is looking for more of the same in Game 2 at Challenge Stadium tonight.

The Boomers found themselves behind by as much as 15 points during the second half on Thursday night against China with Nevill's performance a large reason why the Australian team weren’t behind by more.

However, during the last quarter the full-court defence of the Boomers came to the fore and China wasn’t able to cope, with Motum, Walker, Ben Madgen and Rhys Martin major reasons why Australia was able to force the game into overtime, and eventually win 97-95.

That was the first game of the four-match series with Game 2 to be played tonight at Challenge Stadium with the tip-off at 6.30pm WST. Tickets are still available at www.ticketmaster.com.au.

Boomers coach Lemanis was happy with how his team continued to get better the longer the game went, and eventually the plans in place wore down China and they came away with the narrow win.

"We started as a team who hadn’t played a lot together and there were some things that obviously we can work on and get better at. In the first half we gave up 47 points at 64 per cent and that's always a tough place to be going defensively," Lemanis said.

"I thought that our guys did a good job just hanging in. One of the things about being a full-court defensive team is that you get the benefits over the course of the game. If you continue to rotate the players and stay fresh, my belief is that you can sustain a level of play and then you challenge your opposition to sustain that level of play. I thought we did a good job of that.

"We forced them into 20 turnovers, which was good. We shot it very poorly from the three-point line yet still managed to stay in the game. We had 50 points in the paint and for me that's a fantastic sign. One of the things we have spoken a lot about as a team is our style of play and not settling for jump shots.

"We have to continue to hit on the rim and penetrating. Kick out threes are fine, but don't settle for a mid-range jump shot because you have nothing else to do. I thought we did a good job of that and over the course of the game we started getting to the rim more and more.

"Waxy moving to the four spot really helped us and he did a good job moving them off the bounce. But at the end of the day it was our full-court defence that disrupted their rhythm. "

Lemanis was also glad to not only give Walker and Motum the chance to make their international debuts, but to then also see them make the most of the opportunity and play big roles in the win.

"That's what he does. Brock is an effective, efficient scorer and is aggressive at the rim. He did a good job continuing to get to the rim and there's something about those lefties that makes them hard to guard even if you know they are left-handed," Lemanis said.

"It's really pleasing for me to be able to give Waxy an opportunity and for him to take that and do well, because I know it means so much for him to play for Australia. It should for everybody, but in getting ready for this series he called me up and told me he would be working out, and said he would do whatever it takes to help us out. To be able to have someone like that who is passionate about playing for his country, and then get the opportunity and do well, that's a good story."

Meanwhile, Walker himself was honoured to get the opportunity to play for the Boomers for the first time having given himself every opportunity after continuing to work hard after the Melbourne Tigers' NBL season finished with a playoff loss to the Adelaide 36ers.

"It's a massive honour and I'm really appreciative of the opportunity. Being the first game for me, it was awesome to get a win. We were 13 points down with five minutes to go, but I never thought we were out of it. It just took a couple of stops and scores, and us continuing to play hard," Walker said.

"I didn’t take a lot of time off after the season. I think I might have only had a week off before starting back up with rehab, strength and working on my skills.

"I didn’t want to take my foot off the pedal too much in case an opportunity came by, and that was a good decision because the opportunity has come along. I was ready and prepared to come into camp so it was good."

Walker is also glad that his Melbourne teammate Mark Worthington has not only helped him learn and develop in the NBL, but now also in his first opportunity the Boomers.

"Obviously Wortho has played in two Olympics and this is his 10th year in the Boomers program so I made the point when I was on my way over here of sticking close to Wortho, and if I had questions to ask him because he has been around and done it all before," Walker said.

"We are pretty close teammates back in Melbourne and it's good that I am comfortable enough to pick his brain if I need to. It's good to have him here with me."

Article by Chris Pike