Basketball New Zealand

The Junior Tall Blacks finished pool play at the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Tournament in Mannheim, Germany, without a win after bowing to Croatia 77-105.

In their third outing of the international U19 event, Wellington guard Dion Prewster had 21 points (9/13 FG, 2/5 3pt, 1/2 FT) to lead the young Kiwis, who again edged their opponents in the second quarter (21-19) and trailed by just eight at halftime.

They lost ground in the third quarter and folded 23-37 in the final term.

New Zealand were hammered on the boards, out-rebounded under their own basket, and wound up on the wrong end of a 34-13 free throw count as they scrambled to contain the Croatians.

Porirua guard Brooke Ruscoe, the JTBs’ leading scorer through pool play, finished with 19 points (7/14 FG, 1/1 3pt, 4/5 FT), three assists, three steals and a rebound, but New Zealand had no one else scoring in double figures.

For Croatia, who had five players taller than 2.07m (6ft 9in), Leon Radosevic compiled a double double of 30 points/10 rebounds, most of his points coming from lay-ups.

The Kiwis will now play off for minor placings, beginning with a game against Israel on Wednesday and then defending champions France on Thursday.

Albert Schweitzer Tournament
Mannheim, Germany
Monday, March 24
Croatia 105 (Leon Radosevic 30) NZ Junior Tall Blacks 77 (Dion Prewster 21, Brooke Ruscoe 19)
1Q: 21-11
HT: 40-32 (19-21)
3Q: 68-54 (28-22)
FT: 105-77 (37-23)