The Tall Blacks will place fourth at the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup after going down to Iran 79-73 in Saudi Arabia.
It was one last time round on the hardwood floors of King Abdullah Sports City for the Tall Blacks, as they chased their second consecutive bronze medal at the FIBA Asia Cup.
Mojave King got the Tall Blacks first bucket of the game, a corner triple that found nothing but the bottom of the net. Iran’s Mahit Aghajanpour answered with his own not long after.
Max Darling, Jordan Ngatai and Flynn Cameron all got on the scoresheet with triples of their own, the Tall Blacks starting hot from beyond the arc. However, the Iranians were getting to the bucket with ease, holding a one point lead after five minutes of the first.
Jack Andrew made a good impression during his first minutes on the floor, crashing the offensive boards and getting great second chance buckets.
Cameron got downhill and threw down a one handed hammer on the Iran defence, getting the New Zealanders level with Iran again with a couple of minutes left.
Iran dominated the final two minutes of the quarter, Mobin Sheikhi would knock down a bank shot triple to cap off the quarter and give them a commanding eight point lead after one quarter.
Four straight Tall Black points to restart the game would see their opposition to burn a quick timeout following the quarter break.
Iran would respond in kind, jumping back into action with a 8-0 run to extend their lead out to 12. They’d continue to knock down triples with regularity, keeping the Tall Black comeback at ease.
King would get the Tall Blacks back to within single digits, attacking the rim for and and-one before earning a pair of free throws for five straight points.
However, once more the Iranians would catch fire from beyond the arc towards the end of the quarter, re-establishing their 14-point lead just before the end of the half.
The Iran attack from deep would continue into the second half, with four triples in the first four minutes of the third quarter, extending their lead out to 18 at one stage.
Triples from Cameron and Ngatai, as well as a well needed bucket from Carlin Davison would bring the Tall Blacks back to within 12 points before heading into the fourth quarter of action.
Cameron would continue to try to will his side back into the game knocking down the first field goal of the fourth for the Tall Blacks and moving up to 12 points on the night.
He’d continue to push the pace and get to the cup.
Davison threw down an alley oop dunk, before getting to the cup and splitting his trip at the line, suddenly the Tall Blacks were within single digits for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime.
Flynn Cameron would move up to 18 points with another left handed slam, and the Tall Blacks willed themselves back to within one possession of the game.
However, it was unfortunately a little too late for the Tall Blacks, as they’d fall 79-73 to a strong Iranian side that shot the lights out today.
In just their third FIBA Asia Cup, the Tall Blacks have secured a third consecutive top four finish after coming fourth at the 2017 edition and winning bronze in 2022.
Tall Blacks 73 (Cameron 18p, King 13p, 4r, Davison 9p, 8r, 2s) Iran 79 (Jafari 22p, Vahedi 19p, Kazemi 16p)
Q1: 20-28
HT: 33-47
Q3: 54-67
FT: 73-79
