TOKYO: Armenian-Australian coach Brian Goorjian has led Australia's Boomers to the country's first Olympics medal in basketball, with Patty Mills starring in a thrilling 107-93 win over Slovenia to secure Bronze in Tokyo.

The Australian men’s team has been trying to win a medal since the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, and have played off for bronze four times – each time falling short. However on this occasion, Australia was able to rise to the podium, to the relief of legendary coach Goorjian and his Boomers.

Their loss to Team USA knocked Australia out of gold medal contention but NBA star Mills took the bull by the horns and finished with 42 points, moving into seventh on the list of all-time leading international scorers at the Olympics.

America-born Goorjian played for the Melbourne Tigers for eight years before coaching many successful teams in the National Basketball League (NBL). he has also played for local Armenian-Australian team Homenetmen Arax and has been a regular at the Homenetmen Navasartian Games, especially when held in Melbourne.