The New Zealand U16 Men’s team have cruised to another impressive victory tonight at the FIBA U16 Asian Championships in Doha – their 117-43 win over Bahrain ensuring they finish top of their group and advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Troy Plumtree led all scores with 22 points & 7 rebounds, while Lachlan Crate was equally impressive with his 18 points & 9 rebounds. Oscar Goodman and Merrick Rillstone racked up 13 and 11 points respectively, with Jameer Reed adding 12 & 8 and Hayden Jones controlled the game with his 10 points and 9 assists.
For Bahrain, Ali Altoq tallied 13 points and 4 steals, with Hasan Jameela adding 10 and Mujtaba Rayan 7.
The Kiwis shot 53% from the field and dominated the boards; racking up a massive 75 rebounds (29 offensive) compared to 25 for Bahrain, who were held to just 25% shooting on the night. New Zealand registered 32 assists on their 45 made field goals, while amassing 47 fast break points and 33 second chance points. Forced to foul the Kiwis to stem the offensive onslaught, Bahrain tallied 25 personal fouls which led to New Zealand shooting an improved 22-31 (71%) from the charity stripe.
The game began with New Zealand jumping out to a 6-0 lead; Bahrain doing well to stay in the game thanks to Hasan Jameela’s efforts. Both teams shot poorly in the period – possibly a by-product of playing their third game in three nights – as Bahrain hit just 28% from the field. Despite a relatively sloppy quarter for the Kiwis, they went ahead 27-14 after one thanks in part to their surprising good fortune at the free throw line; shooting 12-15 at an 80% clip.
New Zealand used a 10-3 run to break the game open in the second period, punctuated by back-to-back dunks from Goodman to push the margin to 20 just three minutes into the period. Strong Kiwi defence clamped down on the hapless Bahrain squad, restricting them to just 4-22 shooting in the period as New Zealand went ahead 53-24 at the half.
The Kiwis were buoyed by their improved free throw shooting – going 16-22 at the line – and their continued rebounding prowess; with a 37-17 advantage that saw the Kiwis pull down 13 offensive boards. In the ‘must improve’ category; New Zealand shooting just 1-9 from beyond the arc.
New Zealand’s run continued in the third as they held Bahrain to just three field goals in the period, the third a prayer from outside the arc that hit as time expired. Their 31-7 run saw strong contributions from both Crate (9 points) and Plumtree (5 points and 3 rebounds), with the Kiwis taking a dominant 84-31 lead into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter saw the Kiwis power home on offence; racking up 33 points in the quarter on 50% shooting while holding Bahrain to 12 points. With the final score of 117-43, New Zealand has now beaten its past two opponents by an average of 74 points per game.
Next up for New Zealand is the Quarterfinal round on Friday against a yet-to-be-determined opponents, with details to follow.
Stats:
New Zealand 117 – Plumtree 22 PTS & 7 REB | Crate 18 PTS & 9 REB | Goodman 13 PTS | Rillstone 11 PTS & 5 REB | Reed 12 PTS & 8 REB | Jones 10 PTS & 9 AST | Martin 9 PTS & 5 REB | Te Ratana 8 PTS & 8 REB & 5 AST | Cate 6 PTS & 9 REB | Matthews 5 PTS & 6 REB | Ball 3 PTS
Bahrain 43 – Altoq 13 PTS & 5 STL | Jameela 10 PTS | Rayan 7 PTS
Box Score: http://bbnz.link/U16MensNZLvsBRN
Quarter scores: 27-14, 53-24, 84-31, 117-43
FIBA U16 Men’s Asian Championships – NZ Results
17 Sep – NZL vs Korea (WON 83-81)
18 Sep – NZL vs Jordan (WON 119-45)
19 Sep – NZL vs Bahrain (WON 117-43)
U16 Men’s Squad, FIBA U16 Asian Championship
Jackson Ball, Basketball Hawkes Bay
Ihaka Cate, Canterbury Basketball
Lachlan Crate, Basketball Manawatu
Gus Dallow, Harbour Basketball Association
Oscar Goodman, Basketball Taranaki
Hayden Jones, Nelson Basketball Association
Mana Martin, Canterbury Basketball
James Matthews, Nelson Basketball Association
Troy Plumtree, Wellington Basketball Association
Jameer Reed, Harbour Basketball Association
Merrick Rillstone, Waikato Basketball
Hunter Te Ratana, Counties Manukau
