Matthew Aquino will once again be part of the Akatsuki Five (Japan Men’s Basketball National Team) when they take on the Australia Boomers on Sunday to cap their 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers second window campaign at Okinawa Arena.
Aquino made his first-ever international appearance on Saturday. He logged three minutes and 53 seconds in their 76-71 win over Chinese-Taipei, also in Okinawa.
Also returning to the lineup are Takuma Sato and Yuki Togashi of Chiba; Luke Evans of FE Nagoya; Daichi Taniguchi of Tokyo; Yudai Nishida of Mikawa; Ryo Terashima of Ryukyu; Isaiah Murphy of Hiroshima; and Keita Imamura of Ryukyu.
Completing the lineup for the 1-2 Japan team are Seiya Ando of Tokyo, Kosuke Takeuchi of Utsunomiya, and Kengo Nomoto of Gunma. The trio replaced Avi Schafer of Mikawa, Takumi Saito of Chiba, and Takatoshi Furukawa of Akita.
They take on a mighty Australian team that blasted Chinese-Taipei last Friday, 98-61.
The Japanese players will face three players very familiar in them in the B.League in Nick Kay of Shimane and Kagawa’s Angus Brandt and Rhys Vague.
Also in the Boomers XII are Kyle Zunic of Perth; Emmett Naar, Alexander Mudronja, and Akoldah Gak of Illawara; Jaylin Galloway of Sydney; David Okwera of Melbourne; and Sean MacDonald of Tasmania.
Completing the Australian cast are University of Portland commit Bol Dengdit and Craig Moller of Wuerzburg.
Tip off time of the game is at 5:30 PM (Manila time).
