Basketball New Zealand

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Junior Tall Blacks guard Brook Ruscoe

Porirua guard Brook Ruscoe led all scorers, but couldn’t inspire the NZ Junior Tall Blacks to opening success at the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Germany, losing 66-104 to Spain.

The young Kiwis were only eight points behind after the opening quarter, but their effort fell away over the next two periods to trail by 32 entering the fourth term.

They achieved surprising parity on the boards, but were crippled by 30 turnovers, many of which resulted in easy lay-ups for the Spaniards.

Ruscoe, who was Most Valuable Player at this month’s Oreo NZ U21 Championships, provided the individual highlight for the JTBs with 20 points (6/11 FG, 2/3 3pt, 6/8 FT), six rebounds and two steals. He also committed just one turnover in 28 minutes on court.

Wellington centre David Beck had 13 points (6/11 FG, 1/2 3pt) and five rebounds, while guard Dion Prewster mixed a double double of 11 points/12 rebounds and six assists with 3-of-15 field goal shooting and eight turnovers.

The Spanish pressure would have come as a shock to the Junior Tall Blacks, making their debut at this level, but they must regroup quickly. Today, they are due to face Argentina, 78-76 winners over Croatia last night.

The Kiwis will also be vaguely aware that Oceania rivals Australia convincingly beat Italy 85-63 in their opening performance.

Albert Schweitzer Tournament

Mannheim, Germany
Spain 104 (Nacho Llovet 13) New Zealand 66 (Brooke Ruscoe 20, David Beck 13, Dion Prewster 11)
1Q: 28-20
HT: 55-36 (27-16)
3Q: 78-46 (23-10)
FT: 104-66 (26-20)
Junior TBs vs Spain Box Score (14KB html)