Australia completes Asia Cup three-peat

Australia successfully conquered its third straight title after surviving China, 90-89, in a thrilling 2025 FIBA Asia Cup final duel early Monday (Manila time) at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.

Xavier Cooks led the way while Jaylin Galloway and William Hickey took over in the fourth period to lead the Australians to a big rally after being down by 15 points.

Cooks, who played for the Washington Wizards in the National Basketball Association, erupted for 30 points and nine rebounds while Galloway and Hickey supplied 23 and 15 points, respectively, for the Boomers, who have yet to lose the title since making a debut in this prestigious continental showpiece in 2017.

With that, the Boomers are now tied with Iran with three Asia Cup titles, while China remains on top with 16 and the Philippines with five.

Also, the Australians have yet to lose a single game in 18 starts, underscoring their power and dominance in this biennial event, where the best basketball countries in Asia are seeing action.

The Filipinos, known as Gilas Pilipinas, settled for seventh place in this edition of the Asia Cup after suffering a 24-point loss to the Australians, 60-84, in the quarterfinals.

Australian coach Adam Caporn lauded the character of his players, saying that they refused to surrender despite staring at a 15-point deficit, 21, 36, in the second period.

"The main thing is that I am so proud of the character of our guys. We were down by 15, but we saw our players' toughness, their problem-solving attitude," Caporn added.

"We have great people in the program, and in my opinion, that's why we won."