LJUBLJANA (2015 FIBA Oceania Championship) - Australia have lost the first three games of their European tour but coach Andrej Lemanis remains upbeat about his team's chances in the FIBA Oceania Championship that is quickly approaching.

The Boomers started this week by falling Slovenia in Ljubljana, 79-70 - a third defeat in as many games.

The two sides are set to face each other again on Tuesday.

The Boomers fell to Lithuania in the opening two games of the tour, losing 80-68 in Klaipeda and then 92-85 in Siauliai.

After Monday's setback to Slovenia, one in which the visitors trailed by 14 points at the end of the third quarter but pulled to within five late in the contest, Lemanis stressed the positives.

We’ve made progress over the course of our ten days here in Europe. - Lemanis

"We've had the ability to work everybody into the group and (put) our broader system is in place," Lemanis said.

"Now we just have to refine both offensively and defensively those things that will hold us in good stead when we play in a couple of weeks."

The Boomers will take on the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the FIBA Oceania Championship.

Australia and Slovenia know each other well because they squared off in Group D of last year's FIBA Basketball World Cup in Gran Canaria, Spain.

One big difference between Slovenia and Australia on Monday was that the former were able to knock down their shots from long range and the latter were not.

The Slovenians were 10 of 20 from the arc and the Boomers just five of 23.

The only player on target for Australia was Matthew Dellavedova, who was three of five on his three-balls.

He had 11 points while Ryan Broekhoff had a team-high 20 points, though he miss all five of his attempts from three-point range.

Slovenia, who are warming up for EuroBasket 2015, got a game-high 22 points from Zoran Dragic.

The 26-year-old, who was recently traded by the Miami Heat to the Boston Celtics, was four of six from the arc.

After a Broekhoff basket reduced Slovenia's lead to 69-64 with 3:29 remaining, Dragic answered with a three-point play to stop Australia's comeback cold in its tracks.

Australia's first game of the FIBA Oceania Championship will be played 15 August in Melbourne and the second will be held two days later in Wellington.

The winner of the series will qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games and the loser will play in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Australia's full attention right now, however, is on their second game against Slovenia which is to be held on Tuesday night.

FIBA