The U17 New Zealand Men’s team have made history by recording their second win in as many days, at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. After beating the host nation on day one, the Kiwis backed that up with an 89-81 defeat of Argentina on Sunday night – driven by an outstanding fourth quarter performance.
New Zealand were previously 0-4 against Argentina at FIBA youth events, and 0-10 all time against teams from the Americas. But they broke their duck with a disciplined, skilled performance down the stretch. New Zealand trailed 61-56 at three-quarter time and were still down by that margin with three minutes to play, before demonstrating great resolve in the closing minutes to map out a valuable victory.
Behind 77-72 with 2:58 to play, the Kiwis put together a crucial 8-0 run as a James Matthews drive was followed by Oscar Goodman going coast-to-coast and Troy Plumtree making a pair of baskets – his second an emphatic putback dunk.
Argentina weren’t finished, and made it nervy for the Kiwis as they closed to within a single point. However baskets from Hayden Jones and Goodman, followed by a Plumtree make off a Hunter Te Ratana assist, meant New Zealand had outscored their opponents 17-4 in the closing three minutes and 33-20 in a stirring fourth quarter.
Plumtree led the way for New Zealand with his second double-double of the tournament (22 points and 11 rebounds), Goodman scored 19 points while Jones scored 15 points and added 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jackson Kiss, the only member of the team that didn’t play at last year’s Asia Cup produced a nice cameo of 8 points – on 4/5 shooting – along with 7 boards.
New Zealand shot 54% (36/67) from the field and a less convincing 27% (4/15) from three. The rebounding count was again won by New Zealand (40-35) as was the assists tally (13-10). After giving up 24 turnovers against Turkey the previous day, the Kiwis reduced that to just 14 against Argentina.
New Zealand had scored the first four points of the game, but trailed 26-24 at quarter time. Plumtree scored a half-dozen second quarter points yet Argentina remained in control, taking a 43-36 lead into the half-time break. Mana Martin made the last basket of the third quarter, one New Zealand won 20-18 ahead of their grandstand fourth-quarter finish.
New Zealand will enjoy a day of rest before completing Group C pool play against Italy on Wednesday 3rd July; tip-off at 5.00am NZT.
Stats:
New Zealand 89 – Plumtree 22 PTS & 11 REB | Goodman 19 PTS & 5 REB | Jones 15 PTS 8 REB & 3 BLK | Kiss 8 PTS & 7 REB |Crate 7 PTS | Cate 5 PTS | Ball 4 PTS | Matthews 4 PTS | Te Ratana 3 PTS | Martin 2 PTS
Argentina 81 – T Kropp 25 | F Minzer 24
Box Score: https://bbnz.link/U17MWC_NZLvARG
Quarter Scores: 24-26, 12-17, 20-18, 33-20
FIBA U7 Men’s World Cup – New Zealand Schedule and Results
NZL v Turkey – WON 114-94
NZL v Argentina – WON 89-81
NZL v Italy – 5.00am NZT, Wednesday 3 July
Round of 16 vs Group D (Canada, Australia, Egypt, Germany), Date and Time TBA
NZ Men’s U17 Squad at FIBA U17 World Cup
Jackson Ball, Basketball Hawkes Bay/ Hawkes Bay Hawks
Ihaka Cate, Canterbury Basketball Association/ Canterbury Rams
Lachlan Crate, Basketball Manawatu / Manawatu Jets
Gus Dallow, Harbour Basketball Association / Auckland Tuatara
Oscar Goodman, Basketball Manawatu / NBA Global Academy
Hayden Jones, Nelson Basketball Association / Nelson Giants
Jackson Kiss, Basketball Auckland / Auckland Tuatara
Mana Martin, Canterbury Basketball Association/ Canterbury Rams
James Matthews, Nelson Basketball Association / Nelson Giants
Troy Plumtree, Wellington Basketball Association /Wellington Saints
Jameer Reed, Harbour Basketball Association / Auckland Tuatara
Hunter Te Ratana, Waitakere West Auckland Basketball / Auckland Tuatara
