New Zealand has suffered a third straight loss at the FIBA Under 17 Basketball World Cup in Spain, beaten 104-35 by a highly impressive French team on Tuesday night.
The tournament has been a baptism of fire for New Zealand playing in arguably the toughest Group at the World Cup.
First up it was World No 4 Canada, followed by 6th ranked Serbia and for good measure it was the third best team on the FIBA rankings – France – in the third and final Group A game.
As expected the silver medallists when the tournament was last played in 2018 proved to be formidable opponents, their length and athleticism overpowering the Kiwis.
Nic Book was a standout for New Zealand scoring almost half his team’s points. He finished with a highly creditable 17 points in a typically tenacious display.
In an ominous sign of what lay ahead France scored from a transition layup on their first possession.
Halifonua responded with a floater down the lane ahead of a drive from his own steal by Hunter Trego – when Will Shortt nailed a triple New Zealand were in the contest despite being 19-10 in arrears.
The highly gifted and athletic French team closed the quarter with seven straight points to be 26-10 ahead and were largely untroubled thereafter save the occasional sortie from Book.
Tipped by many to win the U17 World Cup title France led 50-19 at the interval and followed that with an equally emphatic (54-16) display in the second half.
Next up, in the Round of 16, New Zealand will face the winners of Group B, Lithuania on Wednesday. The game can be viewed on nz.basketball/tv
New Zealand 35 – Book 17 PTS | H Trego 7 PTS & 3 STEALS | Halaifonua 6 PTS & 7 REBS | Shortt 5 PTS
France 104 – Z Risacher 19 PTS | I Pietrus 18 PTS
Full rosters, statistics and live stats can be found at: www.fiba.basketball/world/u17/2022
New Zealand Schedule: (times given are local in New Zealand)
Sat 2 July, vs Canada (L, 46-94) – Re-watch game at nz.basketball/tv
Sun 3 July vs Serbia – (L, 120-72) – Re-watch at nz.basketball/tv
Tue 5 July vs France – (L 104-35) – watch at nz.basketball/tv
Weds 6 July vs Lithuania – (Time TBC) – watch at nz.basketball/tv
U17 Men’s National Team Roster
Kaia Berridge – Tauranga City Basketball
Nic Book – Canterbury Basketball
George Grant – Basketball Otago
Julius Halaifonua – Harbour Basketball
Dante Matakatea – Basketball Auckland
William Passi – Counties-Manukau Basketball
Kalid Petzer – Basketball Auckland
Brody Perry – Franklin Basketball
Will Shortt – Basketball Auckland
Hunter Trego – New Zealand
Phoenix Trego – New Zealand
George Turner – Counties-Manukau Basketball
Head Coach – Darron Larsen
Assistant Coach – Chris Tupu
Assistant Coach – Jack Williamson
About The FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022
The FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup 2022 features the world’s top 16 men’s U17 national team with 56 games played across 9 days from July 2-10 in Malaga, Spain.
As event hosts, Spain gained automatic entry. The remaining 15 teams qualified through regional U16 championships with 2 from Africa, 5 from Europe, 4 from the Americas, and 4 from Asia – with New Zealand earning their place after securing a spot in the recent FIBA U16 Asian Championship.
New Zealand were in Group A for pool play alongside Canada, France and Serbia.
