The Tall Blacks have beaten Guam, 99-67, at UOG Calvo Fieldhouse in Guam, to go two-from-two in their second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.
Reuben Te Rangi started the game with the Tall Blacks first five points of the afternoon, before Jack Andrew tacked on four of his own.
New Zealand’s up and in defensive scheme seemed to be doing the job as Guam struggled to put points on the board early.
Keanu Rasmussen entered the game, knocking down a corner three ball to score his first points as a Tall Black, en route to opening up a double-digit lead in quarter one.
The home side stayed the course, with BJ Freeman and Takumi Simon clawing Guam back to within five points of the lead – Coach Judd Flavell taking his first time out of the night to regather his troops.
Andrew opened up the second quarter with a triple, an efficent start for the Twizel native, 9 points on 4/4 from the field.
New Zealand’s defensive intensity continued to cause troubles for the Guam players, as the Tall Blacks continued to make baskets with regularity – opening up a 20-point lead halfway through the second quarter.
Guamanian guard, Takumi Simon, was doing everything he could to keep his side in the hunt, finishing the first half with 13 points, but it was the Tall Blacks who’d take a 51-34 lead into half time.
The Tall Blacks didn’t take long to get back into their work at the start of the second half, with Andrew continuing to lead the way down low, taking his tally to 16 points with another putback half-way through the third quarter.
Britt started to get going with six the the third, while the Tall Blacks continued to extend their lead out to 19 points.
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter, as the Kiwi’s continued to tack on points and further their lead.
A pair of Jonathan Galloway lobs kept the Guam crowd interested – while a pair of Jackson Ball free throws ensured every single Tall Black got on the points tally in a comfortable 99-67 victory.
Jack Andrew’s 20 point, 9 rebound night a big standout, as was Taylor Britt’s 9 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assist near triple-double performance.
Another standout performance in just his second Tall Black game, was Keanu Rasmussen’s 14 points.
Coach Flavell very happy with the team’s performance, and were fully aware of the danger that this Guam team brought after their close loss to Australia, 80-93.
“We watched the Australian game the other day, so we came in with full respect for this Guam team.”
“For us it was all about our defensive mindset, two guys in particular, Simon and Freeman. We really obviously concentrated on those two in particular and tried to keep them quiet. For the most part I thought we did a pretty good job. Simon got going in the second half but for the most part, really happy with our team’s performance on the defensive end.”
Flavell also very happy with the way the team’s new additions for this game against Guam, gelled well and contributed tonight.
“Jack Andrew, Sam Timmins, Kruz Perrott-Hunt and Jackson Ball – they just arrived the other day. I said to them, you’re gonna make mistakes, we’re going to be somewhat rusty here and there on the offensive end.”
“But they came straight in and added to our side. For us, that’s our identity.”
Andrew showing no real rust in re-connecting with his national team teammates for the first time since August’s FIBA Asia Cup.
“This group of guys, the coaching staff, even the help staff behind the scenes have made it really easy for us guys that have to come in. It’s a really good group of guys, good leadership – and yeah, for me, honestly it was quite an easy transition. It shouldn’t be like that, but just a group of guys that made it that easy.”
His 20 points and 9 rebounds (including six offensive) a testament to that transition into the team.
“That’s how I see my strengths – just cleaning up on the O Boards, put back dunks that get the team going. For me tonight, that was really fun.”
“I knew that the way they were playing us, their bigs stepping up and switching – that there was going to be some opportunities for me to get some offensive rebounds and some dump offs. So I just sort of stuck to the game plan and trusted everything really.”
Their win over Guam concludes the second window of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers for the Tall Blacks. The team now waits till July for the third and final window, where they will face the Philippines and Guam in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland.
New Zealand Tall Blacks 99 (Andrew 20p, 9r, Te Rangi 15p, Rasmussen 14p) defeat Guam 67 (Galloway 20p, Simon 19p)
Q1: GUM 18 – 25 NZL
HT: GUM 34 – 51 NZL
Q3: GUM 50 – 69 NZL
FT: GUM 67 – 99 NZL
