Basketball New Zealand

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The NZ Tall Blacks have lost their latest build up match of their preparations for the FIBA World Championship for Men, 93-88 to Croatia in Zadar.

Against one of the highest regarded teams in the world the Tall Blacks competed well in all aspects of the game and were within a shot of winning the game, trailing by just 90-88 with under 23 seconds on the clock.

The Tall Blacks actually held the lead 46-42 at half time and despite the Croatians managing to move ahead by half a dozen goals at various stages, the Kiwis stayed within reach throughout the game.

“It was a very close game all the way through,” said Tall Blacks head coach, Nenad Vucinic “Despite them getting too many easy baskets to start with we managed to stay in the game.

“At times they got six or seven point leads, but we managed to come back every time. They are one of the top teams in the world.

“It was their court and their refs, so we competed well.”

Kirk Penney was New Zealand’s leading scorer with 36 points, but had some good back up from veteran Phil Jones with 17, including a three pointer in the last couple of minutes to bring his team to within a couple of points. Mika Vukona contributed 12 points.

For the Croatians point guard Marko Popovic lead scored with 21, however his team had five players scoring in double figures.

“Kirk scored heavily against a very big team. There were a few others who chipped in on the scoreboard,” said Vucinic.

“It was probably our best game so far, even better than the game against Slovenia. Croatia are the better team.

“We rebounded well considering our size, but there were 19 turnovers and that was our main problem.”

The Tall Blacks now face Russia early tomorrow morning (New Zealand) time. The FIBA World Championship for Men will be held in Turkey, August 28–September 12.

World Cup

Zadar, Croatia
Friday, August 20
Croatia 93 (Marko Popovic 21) New Zealand 88 (Kirk Penney 36, Phil Jones 17, Mika Vukona 12)