The Junior Tall Blacks are through to the finals of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in impressive fashion, following a 86-71 win over China.
With New Zealand trailing China 29-30 at the break, the Kiwi turned on the jets in the second half; outscoring their opponents 57-41 and going 7-14 from outside the arc in a thrilling offensive display. Rebounding and a strong inside presence was both key for the Junior Tall Blacks as they owned a 54 to 28 advantage on the boards, while racking up 15 second-chance points and 40 points in the paint.
The young duo of Tama Isaac and Carter Hopoi were again dominant, with Hopoi pouring in 24 points & 13 rebounds, while Isaac scored 20 points, 10 rebounds & 5 assists. Kahu Treacher added 12 points & 8 rebounds, going 3-5 from downtown as part of a 9-24 shooting effort from New Zealand (37.5%). Chris Christof added 8 points, Ezrah Eagle 7 & 6 and Ryan Hunt 5.
China saw Boyuan Zhang and Ruiqi Duan score 15 points apiece as the squad hit 10 triples from the field at a 34.5% clip while registering an efficient 20 assists on 25 made field goals; but they shot just 37.9% from the field overall and struggled against New Zealand on the boards and inside the painted area.
Junior Tall Blacks head coach, Matt Lacey says he is proud of how his squad fought back in the second half.
“Really a hard fought contest; I thought China really came out and pressured us a lot. And it took us a minute to adjust to that,” says Lacey.
“But just happy with the way we stayed the course and I thought that we started to deal with the pressure a little bit better and kinda pushed it out in the second half. Proud of our guys for staying together.”
New Zealand now advances to the FIBA U18 Asia Cup for only the second time in the history of the competition. They will meet Australia tomorrow morning – time TBC.
Stats:
New Zealand 86 – Hopoi 24 PTS & 13 REB | Isaac 20 PTS & 10 REB & 5 AST | Treacher 12 PTS & 8 REB | Christof 8 PTS | Eagle 7 PTS & 6 REB | Hunt 5 PTS | Barton 4 PTS | Bond 2 PTS | Silberstein 2 PTS | Blight 2 PTS & 5 REB
China 71 – Zhang 15 PTS | Duan 15 PTS
Box Score: https://bbnz.link/U18MAC_NZLvCHN
Quarter Scores: 18-20, 29-30, 63-55, 86-71
FIBA U18 Men’s Asia Cup – New Zealand Schedule and Results
NZL v Jordan – Tue 3 Sep (WON 71-62)
NZL v Indonesia – Wed 4 Sep (WON 89-43)
NZL v Philippines – Thu 5 Sep (WON 75-58)
NZL v Iran, quarter-finals – Sat 7 Sep (WON 87-61)
NZL v China, semi-finals – Mon 9 Sep (WON 86-71)
NZL v Australia, finals – Tue 10 Sep, TBC
NZ Men’s U18 Squad at U18 Men’s Asia Cup
Adam Barton, Nelson Basketball Association
Will Blight, Nelson Basketball Association
Jonty Bond, Nelson Basketball Association
Chris Christof, Otago Basketball
Ezrah Eagle, Basketball Hawkes Bay
Mahnaya Heke, Waikato Basketball
Julius Halaifonua, NBA Global Academy
Carter Hopoi, Tauranga Basketball Association
Ryan Hunt, Waitakere West Auckland Basketball
Tama Isaac, Canterbury Basketball
Dov Silberstein, Basketball Manawatu
Kahu Treacher, Eastern Arizona College (US)
