Australia now leads over New Zealand out of the best-of-three Oceania qualifying series for the Olympic men's basketball qualifying match. Team Australia beat NZ, 91-78 on Wednesday, after two tight second-half fights and the eviction from the game of Kiwi defense man Mark Dickel.

The victory gives Australia an edge, with 1-0, as the winner of the best-of-three series will have a spot in next year's Olympic games in London.

Among the highlights of the game was the eviction of a Kiwi veteran guard Mark Dickel, and the impressive score show-off of another veteran, Kirk Penny, for New Zealand with 30 points.

Giving Australia with a 20-point lead earlier in the game was Patty Mills, a Portland Trail Blazers who signed up with Melbourne Tigers in Australia's National Basketball League this season due to NBA lockout, according to a related AP report.

The game's excitement heightened in the second period as several players from both teams were given technical fouls for rough plays.