New Zealand recorded a fourth consecutive 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifying victory in thrashing Guam 129-75 at Eventfinda Stadium on Monday.
After the thrills and spills of the double overtime victory against the resolute Philippines on Friday night this was a far more straight forward undertaking for Tall Blacks coach Judd Flavell with all his charges making scoring contributions in the runaway win.
Sam Mennenga, Taine Murray and Carlin Davison were in particularly good touch with all three posting their highest scores in a Tall Blacks singlet.
Mennenga scored a game high 27 points on 13 from 15 shooting, Murray made 7 from 11 threes in his 25 points while Davison was a perfect 8 from 8 for his 16 points.
In addition Reuben Te Rangi scored 12 points, Tohi Smith-Milner tallied 11 while Sam Timmins was in double-double territory with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
For Guam Jonathan Galloway scored 21 points, BJ Freeman 18 points and former Perth Wildcats forward Earnest Ross added 11 points.
The Tall Blacks rolled out the same starting five as they did against the Philippines – Shea Ili, Taylor Britt, Te Rangi, Mennenga and Sam Waardenburg and as against the Philippines it was Ili with the first points of the game.
With Britt, making his 50th appearance in the black singlet, dropping a trademark jump shot New Zealand quickly opened up a 10-2 lead. However they were pegged back by nine unanswered points from Guam.
Seven straight points from Mennenga including a brace of dunks and a banked three helped the Kiwis regain control and when Taine Murray dropped back-to-back triples the lead was 35-24 at quarter time.
Mennenga was the first player into double figures and was then soon up to twenty, on a perfect 10 from 10 from the field, as the Tall Blacks stretched out to a 51-33 advantage.
Murray was next into double digits and with Keanu Rasmussen scoring his first points for the Tall Blacks on home soil the hosts enjoyed a 63-38 half-time advantage.
New Zealand, ranked fifty-three places above Guam (#77) in the world rankings emphasised the difference in class by putting on a shooting clinic after the break, the sizeable crowd warming to the aerial acrobatics provided by Davison.
Ahead 98-51 at three-quarter time New Zealand cruised through the final period although to their credit the plucky Guam side stuck to the task in admiral fashion only losing the quarter 31-24.
The Tall Blacks now advance to the second round of World Cup Asian Qualifiers and will form Group E with all the results from the first round carried forward. Group E comprises of New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Jordan, Iran and Syria with the next two fixtures being played in the August 24-September 1 window.
New Zealand (4wins-2losses) will not meet Australia (6-0) and the Philippines (2-4) again but will play Jordon (5-1), Iran (5-1) and Syria (2-4) home and away. The top three teams from Group E will automatically qualify for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar.
Tall Blacks 129 – Mennenga 27pts & 9rebs, Murray 25pts, Davison 16pts & 6asts, Te Rangi 12pts, Smith-Milner 11pts & 9rebs, Timmins 11pts & 10rebs
Guam 75 – Galloway 21pts, Freeman 18pts, Ross 11pts
2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifying – First Round Results/Fixtures
L 79-84 v Australia MyState Bank Arena, Hobart
L 77-79 v Australia TSB Arena, Wellington
W 66-69 v Philippines Mall of Asia Arena, Manila
W 99-67 v Guam University of Guam Fieldhouse, Mangilao Village
W 106-102 v Philippines Spark Arena, Auckland
W 129-75 v Guam Eventfinda Stadium, Auckland
TALL BLACKS SQUAD FOR FIBA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS: WINDOW 3
G Taylor Britt, Canterbury Rams (49 games for Tall Blacks)
G/F Carlin Davison, BNZ Breakers & Wellington Saints (19 games)
G Shea Ili, Melbourne United & Sandringham Sabres (74 games)
F Sam Mennenga, BNZ Breakers (11 games)
G Taine Murray, Brisbane Bullets & Tauranga Whai (26 games)
G/F Jordan Ngatai, Tauranga Whai (96 games)
G Keanu Rasmussen, Adelaide 36ers & Hawkes Bay Hawks (2 games)
F/C Tohi Smith-Milner, Nelson Giants (82 games)
G/F Reuben Te Rangi, BNZ Breakers & Tauranga Whai (77 games)
C Sam Timmins, Southland Sharks (30 games)
C Sam Waardenburg, Melbourne United (5 games)
G Tai Webster, Manawatū Jets (55 games)
Head Coach: Judd Flavell
Assistant Coaches: Mike Fitchett, Daniel Sokolovsky
