Basketball New Zealand

New Zealand Tall Blacks

This time there was no late surge for the New Zealand Tall Blacks.

Unable to repeat their fourth-quarter comeback against Belgium two days earlier, the Tall Blacks fell 102-91 to Finland in their European Tour finale in Vantaa on Monday.

New Zealand captain Kirk Penney scored a game-high 32 points, his second 30-plus point game of the eight-game tour, as the Kiwis completed their whistle-stop Euro Trip 2-6 at Energia Arena on the outskirts of Helsinki.

Trailing by six points entering the fourth quarter, a Tall Blacks team playing their eighth game in 12 days, could not contain the Finns down the stretch.

Finland, warming up for their Eurobasket additional qualifying round games starting later this week, got a combined 45 points from their starting backcourt of Teemu Rannikko and Petteri Koponen.

Point guard Rannikko finished with 24 points, while Koponen had 21 points and ex Atlanta Hawks centre Hanno Mottola 19 points, which included a perfect 4-of-4 on three-point attempts.

Penney shot 11-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-7 from distance, and went a perfect 7-of-7 on free-throw attempts as New Zealand shot a lofty 62 percent (36/58 FG) from the floor but tired in the second half, making 1-of-7 three-point attempts in the second half.

Led by centre Alex Pledger, who compiled a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, along with two blocks on Mottola, the Tall Blacks out-rebounded Finland 38-13, including 13 offensive boards.

Turnovers were again New Zealand’s downfall, on the wrong side of a 24-10 count, which despite the rebounding disparity, allowed Finland to put up more shot attempts.

Point guard Lindsay Tait was the Tall Blacks other double-digit scorer with 11 points, nine of those coming in a strong first half.

Finland, including ex-NBA player Motolla and a roster full of European pros, stretched their lead to six points in the third period as they went for 29 points. Penney had 10 points in the quarter for NZ.

Penney’s 32 points on Monday completed an impressive tour for the NZ Breakers star. He recorded six 20-point games, including a pair of 30-point nights, bumped his tour average to 24.9 points per game, scoring 199 points overall as New Zealand’s top-scorer in all eight games.

The Tall Blacks trailed by a basket, 50-48, at halftime in Vantaa, with Penney leading all scorers with 13 points. Tait had nine points and Pledger eight points at the main break.

Turnovers hurt New Zealand in the first half, committing 13 which negated any advantage from a monster 23-5 rebound count, which included eight offensive boards.

Shooting 19-of-31 from the floor and 4-of-10 on threes in the first half, the Tall Blacks trailed by a pair, 26-24, after the first period. Finland shot 18-of-32 from the field, including 4-of-9 from long-range, in the first half.

The Tall Blacks arrive back in New Zealand on Wednesday morning, with a break before going into camp in Wellington on August 18 ahead of the two-game FIBA Oceania Championship against Australia on August 23 (Sydney) and 25 (TSB Bank Arena, Wellington).

Tall Blacks European Tour

Energia Arena, Vantaa

Monday, August 3

Finland 102 (Teemu Rannikko 24, Petteri Koponen 21, Hanno Mottola 19) New Zealand 91 (Kirk Penney 32, Alex Pledger 14, Lindsay Tait 11)
1Q: 26-24
HT: 50-48 (24-24)
3Q: 79-73 (29-25)
FT: 102-91 (23-18)

Tall Blacks vs Finland Box Score (131KB pdf)