New Zealand has earned a stunning victory in the Asia Cup this morning, winning 88-78 over highly-favoured Korea to set up a Trans-Tasman semi-final with Australia on Saturday.
Flynn Cameron was electric with 22 points, 9 rebounds & 8 assists for the Tall Blacks – including 14pts in a dominating fourth quarter by the 22-year-old guard – as the Kiwis pulled away for the gritty win with a 28-18 fourth quarter.
Taki Fahrensohn had 16 points (including 4 triples) & 7 rebounds, Tohi Smith-Milner had 14, Taine Murray with 9 points & 6 rebounds, and Sam Timmins registered a huge 14 rebounds to go with his 6 points. Jordan Hunt had 8 points, Kruz-Perrott Hunt scored 7 and Taylor Britt 6.
For Korea, Ra Guna led the team with 19 points and 14 rebounds (6 offensive), Jongkyu Kim had 13 and Junyong Choi had 11 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists before being ejected in the fourth with his second technical foul.
The start of the game saw the welcome return of Timmins, who had suffered an ankle injury late in the game against Syria, but with Sam Mennenga sitting out due to illness. Korea scored first 4 points before the Tall Blacks took control thanks to triples from Cameron and Smith-Milner; a dunk from Fahrenson giving the Kiwis an 11-6 lead four minutes into the game.
That lead ballooned out to 16-6 thanks to some hot shooting from New Zealand (four triples at a 50% clip), Cameron also impressing with his outlet passing and vision, and both sides playing at a breakneck pace. Undeterred, Korea relied on some strong outside shooting of their own – combined with tough defence – to narrow the gap to 26-23 in New Zealand’s favour at quarter’s end.
Both teams cooled off – and slowed down – in the second quarter; New Zealand’s key highlight an alley-oop dunk by Timmins off of a Cameron feed which helped to restore the Kiwi’s lead. However a pair of steals by Korea, both leading to easy layups on the other end, gave Korea a 46-40 lead into the break with Ra Guna (10 points and 8 rebounds) leading the way.
Although the Kiwis won the battle of the boards (32 vs 25) in the first half, they were held to just 14 points on 32% shooting; Korea’s defence protecting the paint while also generating 11 points off of Kiwi turnovers. Murray led New Zealand with 9 points, Smith-Milner with 7 and Cameron 6; Timmins with 11 first-half rebounds.
Both New Zealand and Korea came out shooting in the third period, highlighted by multiple threes being traded by both teams. But the story of the third quarter would be the ejection of Korea’s captain Daesung Lee, who had 11 points until he picked up his second technical foul and was thrown out of the game – leaving Korea without their lead guard.
Although guilty of several turnovers and some cold-shooting near the end of the third – the Kiwis held scoreless for almost 4 minutes thanks to 0-5 shooting from the field – a Smith-Milner triple at the beater squared the game at 60-all; New Zealand outscoring Korea 20-14 in the period.
The fourth quarter saw Fahrensohn heating up with a pair of shots from downtown, then it was Cameron’s time to take over the game. His triple gave the Tall Blacks a 5 point lead with 4 minutes left, but it was his emphatic driving dunk with 1 minute, 36 seconds left that seemed to take the life out of Korea – as evidenced by another emotional Korea player being ejected thanks to his second technical.
The Tall Blacks would hold on for the huge 88-78 win against a tough and spirited Korea team, punctuated by Cameron’s step-back triple with 20 seconds left. Overall the Kiwis shot 25% from the field (including 14-45 from downtown), while again winning the rebound battle 61-43 including a dominant 24 offensive boards – giving them a 28-10 advantage in second-chance points.
New Zealand next faces Australia in the Asia Cup semi-finals, on Saturday 23 July (time TBC).
Stats:
New Zealand 92 – Cameron 22PTS & 9REB & 8AST | Fahrensohn 16PTS & 7REB | Smith-Milner 14PTS & 5REB | Timmins 6PTS & 14REB | Murray 9PTS & 6REB | Hunt 8PTS | Perrott-Hunt 7PTS & 5REB | Britt 6PTS
Korea 75 – Ra Guna 19PTS & 14REB | Kim 13PTS | Choi 11PTS & 9REB & 7AST | Lee 11PTS
Quarter scores: 26-23, 40-46, 60-60, 88-78.
Full Stats here:
Tall Blacks Asia Cup Schedules (All Times NZT)
- Vs India, 4pm NZT Wed 13 July (W 100-47)
- Vs Lebanon, 1am NZT, Sat 16 July (L 72-86)
- Vs Philippines, 1am NZT, Mon 18 July (W 92-75)
- Vs Syria, 10.30pm NZT, Tue 19 July (W 97-58)
- Vs Korea, 1am NZT, Fri 22 July (W 88-78)
- Vs Australia, Sat 23 July (time TBC)
Tall Blacks Squad – FIBA Asia Cup 2022
Flynn Cameron, Riverside California (6 caps)
Isaac Davidson, NZ Breakers / Franklin Bulls (5 caps)
Jordan Hunt, Hawkes Bay Hawks (6 caps)
Kane Keil, Franklin Bulls (3 caps)
Kruz Perrott-Hunt, University of South Dakota (7 caps)
Max Darling, Canterbury Rams (2 caps)
Sam Mennenga, Davidson College (4 caps)
Sam Timmins, NZ Breakers / Otago Nuggets (17 caps)
Taine Murray, University of Virginia (8 caps)
Taki Fahrensohn, Auckland Tuatara (8 caps)
Taylor Britt, Canterbury Rams (9 caps)
Tohi Smith-Milner, Sandringham Sabres (44 caps)
