The New Zealand U18 Men are World Cup bound in 2027, after a successful FIBA Asia Cup campaign in Ahmedabad saw them bring home bronze in their 3rd/4th place playoff against the Republic of Korea, 102-97.
The campaign in India, which ended in the Junior Tall Blacks finishing with a 5-1 record, securing the U18’s spot at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Czechia next year. Here’s a recap of their journey at the FIBA U18 Asia Cup:
Game One, v Syria (W 67-58)
The New Zealand U18 Men started off the Asia Cup with a close encounter with Syria, the third quarter being the difference making in an otherwise tight opening fixture in Ahmedabad.
The Kiwi’s held a small 38-34 lead at halftime, with the Syrians fighting hard to stay in the game. The next quarter is where the game turned, with Wellington Saints forward, Aubrey Chunga, and Tauranga Whai forward, Cole Hopoi, combining for 15 of New Zealand’s 22 points in the third term.
Whilst Syria fought back again in the fourth, the margin was too big to overcome, as the New Zealand men chalked their first win of the campaign, 67-58.
New Zealand 67 (Ball 19p, Chunga 11p, 9r, Robertson 11p) defeat Syria 58 (Aldassouki 15p, Mathiang 11p).
Game Two, v Bahrain (W 86-52)
In the second game of their campaign, the U18 Men ran Bahrain out of the building.
Opening up the first quarter on a mammoth 18-2 run, the Junior Tall Blacks never looked back. With six Kiwi’s scoring in double digits, they did it by committee, outscoring Bahrain by at least 10 in three out of the games four quarters.
New Zealand 86 (Hopoi 16p, 5r, Ball 15p, Chunga 12p, Kelso 12p, Kailahi-Aso 12p) defeat Bahrain 52 (Onoduenyi 16p, 17r).
Game Three, v Lebanon (W 113-62)
It was no let up against Lebanon in game three of the FIBA U18 Asia Cup, as the lads got off to another hot start and didn’t show any signs of looking back.
Another huge 14-2 run to open the first quarter, meant the Kiwi’s had the early upper hand before finishing out the quarter up 15 points.
It was a huge 51-point win in which seven New Zealanders scored in double digits, with Cole Hopoi and Phil Wickham falling just short of the mark with 9 points each. The Junior Tall Blacks shot the lights out in this game, with 60% from the field.
New Zealand 113 (Ball 19p, Kailahi-Aso 14p, Savill 14p, Ifopo-Togia 12p) defeat Lebanon 62 (Sawma 21p, El Herera 13p).
Quarter-Final, v Japan (W 94-58)
Finishing top of Group B meant the Kiwi lads had direct passage through to the quarter-finals where they’d meet Japan.
Again, after starting strongly the Junior Tall Blacks led this one from wire-to-wire. The team not keeping their foot off the pedal throughout the match, consistently adding to the lead throughout the duration of the game to run out eventual 94-58 winners, their third 30+ point win of the tournament.
Jackson Ball turning up the dial from a scoring point of view in this one, dropping the team’s first individual 20 point game in the Quarter-Final, whilst Aubrey Chunga continued his fine form with a 14 point-10 rebound double-double. In a welcome return to action, Cooper Adams added 7 points in eight minutes of action after missing the boys first three games in group stage.
New Zealand 94 (Ball 20p, Chunga 14p, 10r, Ifopo-Togia 10p, Hopoi 10p) defeat Japan 58 (Nakamura 17p, Honda 10p, McMillian 10p).
Semi-Final, v China (L 66-79)
A tough semi-final match up against China saw the Junior Tall Blacks fall short of a place in the gold medal match in Ahmedabad.
Facing adversity when China gave the New Zealanders a taste of their own medicine, starting the game on a 12-4 run, before Arana Robertson got the JTB’s going, but still they found themselves facing a 14-point deficit at the end of the first.
Jackson Ball turned the heat up in the second, scoring 12 points in the quarter, including an eight point run to edge his squad closer to Team China.
The Chinese continued to keep a solid gap from the New Zealanders, with three third quarter triples at vital times. Their balanced scoring attack keeping the Junior Tall Blacks at bay, the Kiwi’s unable to reel them in, eventually falling 66-79.
New Zealand 66 (Ball 23p, 5r, 5a, Hopoi 12p, Ifopo-Togia 11p, Robertson 11p) defeated by China 79 (Zhang Chunzhi 18p, Zhang Yizhaojie 12p, 10r, Wang Zichao 11p).
Bronze Medal Match, v Korea (W 102-97)
In what was by far the Junior Tall Blacks closest game of the tournament, they took on a fierce Korean outfit.
The first half remained close throughout, with New Zealand owning the biggest lead of the half at just five points mid-way through the second quarter. By the end of the quarter, the scores were level at 49-49. Phil Wickham and Jackson Ball each getting into double-digits during the first half (12 and 10 points respectively).
Korea nudged ahead by the end of the third quarter, and would hold that lead with around three and a half minutes to play in the game. Ball going on a 10-0 run by himself to nudge the Junior Tall Blacks into the lead. From there, they would keep Korea at an arm’s length, winning the bronze medal by five points.
New Zealand 102 (Ball 29p, 7a, Wickham 19p, 11r, 6a, Hopoi 14p) defeat Republic of Korea 97 (Jiwon Yoon 29p, Park Taejoon 15p, Geonwoo Heo 15p) to win the bronze medal.
Tournament Awards
Jackson Ball was named in the tournament’s All-Star Five leading New Zealand with averages of 20.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
