It’s no secret the Tall Blacks are on a roll, notching up their sixth win in a row in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers with a rampant 126 – 74 victory over Syria in Manila.
Sam Mennenga’s bucket down the lane opened proceedings for the Tall Blacks, before a Shea Ili lob to Sam Waardenburg continued their hot start.
After opening the game on a 9-0 run, a couple of errant turnovers from the Tall Blacks allowed Syria back into the quarter.
A Judd Flavell timeout for the Kiwi’s worked, as they orchestrated another 8-0 run to push the lead out again. Tai Webster coming into the game and injecting five quick points to the tally, before brother Corey knocked down a couple of triples of his own, as the Tall Blacks closed out the quarter up double digits.
A short Syrian resurgence would cut the lead to single digits, but only briefly as Mennenga continued his night out with a huge dunk.
Corey Webster hit back-to-back triples, taking his point tally to 14 for the half (4/8 3PM), Mennenga finishing the half with 18 points as the Tall Blacks dominated the quarter to be up 22 points at the half-time break.
Syria’s James Justice Jr with leading scoring honours, notching up 20 points in the first half as he single handedly attempted to keep his squad in the contest.
A thunderous baseline dunk from Mennenga would open the third quarter, taking his tally up to 20 for the night. The ball flying around the floor through Tall Black hands with ease in the third, as the Kiwi’s began to assert their dominance over Syria.
Flynn Cameron started to get going in the third, with six points in the quarter. Reuben Te Rangi getting in on the action as well with back-to-back triples and the lead soared past 40.
The Tall Blacks notching up their third 30+ point quarter on the trot, dominating the Syrians 34-12 in the third term, shooting a near perfect 90% from inside the arc.
The defense of Shea Ili proving to be a big difference maker on that end of the floor, as he spearheaded the Tall Blacks to limiting James Justice Jr to just two points in the quarter.
It was more free flowing basketball in the fourth quarter, with Luca Yates alley-oop bucket pushing the lead out to 50.
Cameron pushing the pace in transition to get some easy buckets and take his tally up to 19 points.
Syria was able to make the fourth quarter a little closer, but Corey Webster’s sixth triple of the night was the cherry on top for the Kiwi’s, as they breezed past Syria 126-74.
Coach Judd Flavell much happier with the squad’s push in the second half, in which they outscored Syria 61-31.
“A much better second half for us. We started off great at the start, but then we probably took the foot off the pedal in some aspects.”
Justice Jr’s 20 first half points causing a bit of trouble for Flavell’s men.
“Justice was doing a lot of damage in that first half, he didn’t have too many opportunities, but he made us pay when he did. It was a real focus of ours to keep him quiet in the second half and we did that.”
Flynn Cameron also reflecting on that dominant second half effort from his squad.
“I think we just locked in. We picked up our standards, played physical defense, made everything tough for him [Justice Jr].”
With two wins this Window, the Tall Blacks currently sit second in Group E, with a firm hand on a spot at the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar.
“I think every team is eyeing those spots up because it’s very competitive. We knew coming in we had very good teams joining this group. We got the job done but I think that’s just one step. There’s two more windows to play out, and for us it’s just trying to build for each of those windows as well.”
With a couple of months to play until the next window, the Tall Blacks plan is pretty simple according to Coach Judd.
“Our vision is very clear. That’s to come in and take care of our business.”
The Tall Blacks take on Jordan and Syria in November’s FIBA World Cup Qualifying Window, at a location yet to be confirmed by FIBA.
New Zealand Tall Blacks 126 (Webster 22p, 6 3PM, Cameron 21p, 3s, Mennenga 20p, 5r) defeat Syria 74 (Justice Jr 22p, Michelsson 9p, Albalbisi 8p)
Q1: NZL 31 – 19 SYR
HT: NZL 65 – 43 SYR
Q3: NZL 99 – 55 SYR
FT: NZL 126 – 74 SYR
