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AUSTRALIA last night swept to an all-the-way 99-85 win over Japan it its FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinal and now faces the revival of the Trans-Tasman rivalry when it meets New Zealand's Tall Blacks in Jakarta for a spot in the Final against the winner of the Jordan-Lebanon semi final. 

Rhys Vague put the final nail into Japan's coffin with his fifth 3-pointer (from six attempts) to put down Japan's desperate final assault.

But in truth, it was Sam Froling (15 points, 6 rebounds) who dominated the early going for the Boomers before Thon Maker (21 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists) also took control, Australia owning the glass to the tune of 51 rebounds to 29.

It was a stark disparity, Australia also receiving great service from its playmakers Mitch McCarron (7 points, 7 rebounds, 9 assists) and William McDowell-White (6 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals).

Froling opened the match with a 3-point swish, fed a cutting Sam McDaniel with a wicked pass for the go-ahead basket at 5-3, blocked a shot, then scored again for 7-3.

To say he started on fire is an understatement as the Aussies swept from 3-3 to 15-3, putting Japan into a night-long game of chasey.

Exciting guard Keisei Tominaga, with 33 points including 8-of-15 threes, sparked several Japanese recoveries after Australia threatened to blow the quarterfinal wide open.

The Boomers led by as many as 21 points and were never headed but in truth, Japan never threw in the towel and kept coming with commitment - right up until Vague ended it.

Maker again was huge and has been throughout the tournament, rebuilding his international stock while guiding the Boomers to the brink of back-to-back Asia Cup Gold.

New Zealand took out Korea 88-78 in their quarterfinal match-up to set up a repeat of the Asia Cup's 2017 semi final which the Boomers won 106-79.

Iran's elimination by Jordan in the other half of the draw means the Boomers-Tall Blacks semi is likely to be a quasi-Final, neither Jordan nor Lebanon looking ready to stop either team from the Oceania pair.

AUSTRALIA BOOMERS 99 (Maker 21, Vague 19, Froling 15; Maker 13 rebs; McCarron 9 assts) d JAPAN 85 (Tominaga 33, Togashi 14, Inoue 11; Inoue 6 rebs; Kawamura 6 assts).