New Zealand were beaten 61-48 by Lithuania in the Round of 16 at the FIBA Under 17 Basketball World Cup in Spain, on Wednesday night.
New Zealand bounced back well from the mauling they received against France the previous day to give World #7 and Group B winners Lithuania a real run for their money, especially in the third quarter where the Kiwis outscored their opponents 14-9 to trail 45-38 with ten minutes to play.
Nick Book led the New Zealand effort with 15 points, 14 rebounds, 3 steals and an assist. Dante Matakatea enjoyed his best game of the tournament scoring 14 while Julius Halaifonua was a rebound shy of joining Book in double-double territory as he added 9 boards to 10 points.
Lithuania put the first four points on the board before Hunter Trego landed a three to open the New Zealand account. Lithuania would go on to head the opening period 18-9.
A pull-up three from Kaia Berridge was followed by inside baskets from Book and Halaifonua as the Lithuanian lead was reduced to five points.
Matakatea again trimmed the Lithuanian advantage to five (25-20) but that drew a response from the men in green who led 36-24 at half-time.
Lithuania scored the first four points of the second half – stout defence from the Kiwis meant Lithuania would score just five more points in the period.
At the offensive end Hunter Trego, Matakatea, Book and Halaifonua added to their individual tallies – Books coast-to-coast effort a highlight.
Down 45-38 at three-quarter time New Zealand couldn’t maintain that third quarter momentum in in the fourth but could take great pride in keeping a world top-10 rated team to 61 points.
New Zealand will enjoy a rest day before playing Mali in the first of three classification games to determine places 9-16 at the World Cup. Games can be viewed nz.basketball/tv
New Zealand 48 – Book 15 PTS & 14 REBS | Matakatea 13 PTS | Halaifonua 10 PTS & 9 REBS | H Trego 7 PTS & 4 ASSISTS | Berridge 3 PTS
Lithuania 61 – V Žygas 13
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) – Re-watch at nz.basketball/tv
Weds 6 July vs Lithuania – (L 61-48) – Re-watch at nz.basketball/tv
Fri July 8 vs Mali – (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.
