Australia have chalked up a third straight win at the basketball World Cup, with an eight-point victory over Mexico keeping alive their hopes of topping the group stage.
Backing up from Tuesday's draining upset of Lithuania, the Boomers were challenged but not broken by a physical Mexican side before emerging with the 70-62 victory less than 24 hours later on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.
A lights-out shooting display from electric guard Ryan Broekhoff and another dominant performance from big man Aron Baynes highlighted the win.
The off-contract San Antonio Spurs centre engaged in a compelling match-up with Mexico's Gustavo Ayon - with the added incentive being that Ayon is reportedly being sized up by the NBA champions.
If Wednesday's showdown is any indicator, Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich would be wise to hold onto his 208cm Boomer.
Baynes shot out of the gates, physically dominating his opponents to rack up 10 of his game-high 21 points in the opening six minutes while Ayon was benched after picking up two early fouls.
Australia carried a three-point lead into the second quarter, but their touch suddenly disappeared and they missed six of their next seven shots before coach Andrej Lemanis called a timeout and accused his team of playing "stressed" as Mexico's lead stretched to six.
The pep talk worked, and the Boomers had regained a one-point lead at halftime before breaking the game open in the third quarter.
Sparked by Broekhoff, who shot a perfect four-from-four from beyond the arc in the third, the Boomers outscored their opponents 26-13 as the lead ballooned to be 16 late in the quarter to seemingly set up a comfortable victory.
But they quickly found themselves fighting off a spirited Mexican outfit, who opened the fourth with a 10-2 run to force Lemanis into throwing his big names back into the fray.
With the match on the line, rather than rely on the high-tempo offence that defined their earlier group matches, Australia turned to lock-down defence to close out the win.
After Joe Ingles' starring effort in Wednesday's win over Lithuania, in which he scored 18 points in the 82-75 upset, the small forward was notably quieter against Mexico.
The 26-year-old, who has reportedly caught the attention of NBA scouts with his play at the tournament, finished without any points and didn't attempt a single shot in the opening three quarters - instead preferring to play a distributing role, dishing out five assists while also grabbing five rebounds.
Before the match, Lemanis had challenged his side to shut down Mexico's three-point shooting, identifying their dangerous outside shooters as the biggest threat of an upset - and would have been pleased with their effectiveness, restricting them to 7-of-17 from deep.
Mexico were led by Ayon who stepped up in the second half to finish with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Australia next face Angola on Thursday.
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