New Zealand have come up short in the 9-12 place classification game at the FIBA Under 17 Basketball World Cup in Spain on Saturday night, going down 82-54 to African champions Egypt.
Dante Matakatea and Hunter Trego were outstanding for the Kiwis, in an overall disappointing performance. Mount Albert Grammar wing Matakatea made 5 from 6 threes on his way to a team high 19 points – he also snared 9 rebounds – while point guard Hunter Trego added 7 assists to 14 points.
After the high of defeating Mali on Friday, the Kiwis came out flat in this contest – falling behind 20-13 at quarter time and further adrift at the half 46-22. New Zealand were undoubtedly missing the presence of their leading scorer Nic Book (12.6ppg), who was side-lined through illness.
New Zealand produced a more energetic showing in the third quarter; Hunter Trego’s 10 points enabling the Kiwis to win the period 15-12.
Any realistic chance of a Kiwi comeback was thwarted when they gave up the first 6 points of the final period, but to their credit they continued to play with energy and commitment – William Passi’s three steals a testament to that.
Matakatea made three of his five threes in the fourth, Hunter Trego converted a rare 4-point play, and Kaia Berridge came up with the final score of the contest – but despite this, Egypt were simply too good on the night.
New Zealand will wrap up the tournament on Sunday against Argentina in the 11th/12th place classification game.
In other news, USA will meet the winner of the Spain v France semi-final in the Championship Grand Final on Sunday.
New Zealand 54 – Matakatea 19 PTS & 9 REBS | H Trego 14 PTS & 7 ASSISTS | Halaifonua 7 PTS | P Trego 5 PTS | Shortt 4 PTS & 8 REBS | Turner 3 PTS | Berridge 2 PTS
Egypt 82 – Ahmed Nedal Abdelrahman Abouelela 22PTS | Seifeldin Hendawy 13PTS & 8REB
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)
- Sun 3 July vs Serbia – (L, 120-72)
- Tue 5 July vs France – (L 104-35)
- Weds 6 July vs Lithuania – (L 61-48)
- Fri July 8 vs Mali – (W 80-59)
- Sat July 9 vs Egypt – (L 54-82) – Re-watch at nz.basketball/tv
- Sun July 10 vs Argentina – (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.
