Source: Radio New Zealand
Tall Black Flynn Cameron brings the ball down court against Australia. photosport
A slow finish has scuppered the Tall Blacks in Hobart, going down 84-79 to Australia after leading for much of their tense World Cup qualifying game.
Chasing a first-ever back-to-back win over the Boomers, New Zealand looked on track after opening up a 48-42 halftime lead and still having their nose in front going into the final stanza.
However, turnovers and missed shots proved costly down the stretch, with the visitors combining for just 12 points while a clutch Davo Hickey three-pointer pushed Australia four points clear with 34 seconds remaining.
The teams meet again in Wellington on Monday.
Coach Judd Flavell lamented his team’s high turnover count.
“That’s probably the key stat right there. You know 15’s not a lot, but they scored 12 points off [turnovers]. In international basketball, that’s too many,” said Flavell, who also said the Tall Blacks needed to improve their three-point shooting, which had a lowly 25 percent success rate.
“They sat out there and shot 12 threes. We would’ve liked to have done that, but it just means you have to be very precise and execute more – and I don’t think we did that tonight.”
Tall Black Carlin Davison in possession against Australia. photosport
Centre Sam Mennenga topped the scoring for New Zealand with 19, to go with a game-high 10 rebounds, helping the visitors win the rebound count 49-36.
Flynn Cameron came off the bench and continued his impressive FIBA Asia Cup form, setting the tone on both ends, compiling eight points, five assists and two steals.
Fellow gaurd Izayah Le’afa said there were reasons to be confident of reversing the result on Monday night.
“There was definitely some positives for us, rebounding gave us a good chance but it was just little hiccups during the game that Aussie punished us for. I think we’ll go back to the drawing board, look at the film and make the little adjustments,” he said.
“For the majority of it – very happy, and I think we can just do a lot better to close out possessions or just entering our possession and being on the same page a little bit more and just tidying up a few things there.
Taylor Britt was in doubt for the rematch after suffering an apparent knee injury.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
