The Tall Blacks have used a dominant fourth quarter showing to earn a 89-69 win over Chinese Taipei tonight, in their first game of Window 1 of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
With New Zealand leading by five heading into the final period, Ethan Rusbatch stepped up in big-time fashion; scoring 14 of his 26 points in the quarter on 5/5 shooting – including 4 triples – as part of a back-breaking 16-0 run that saw the Kiwis outscore Chinese Taipei 23-8.
In addition to Rusbatch’s heroics, Sam Timmins added 16 points & 9 rebounds; Tom Vodanovich with 16 of his own while setting a much-needed physical presence in the second half for New Zealand. Dan Fotu added 14 points & 6 boards, while Taylor Britt added 8. The Kiwis pulled out the win on the strength of their shooting and strong inside play – going 32/55 from the field at a 58% clip while also hauling down 44 rebounds, compared to just 20 for the home team.
The win came despite a sloppy 22 turnovers from New Zealand, who also allowed Chinese Taipei to hit 9 triples in the first half; two things the Kiwis will look to address before their next game against Hong Kong on Sunday.
For Chinese Taipei, Cheng Liu led the home team with 20 points on 8/16 shooting, while Chun Chi Lin and Cheng Lin had 9 apiece; Sin-Kuan Lin adding 8. After a strong shooting first half that saw them trailing by only 1 point in front of their home crowd, Chinese Taipei struggled in the second half as they were held by the Tall Blacks to just 21 points on 32% shooting.
Following the game, Rusbatch gave credit to the squad for pulling out the tough win.
“Pretty proud of the boys, especially after having a such a short turnaround from travel; and we fly out tomorrow so it’s another quick one – but to come in here and pick things up in such amount of time, it’s credit to the coaching staff and the management who have put in all the work to get us here,” says Rusbatch.
“It wasn’t happening for us in the first quarter, we had to dig it out and wait the whole game – there’s four quarters to this game and we’d talked about that before the game, so it kind of came to fruition for us. Hats off to the Chinese Taipei team and credit to the boys as well.”
Tall Blacks head coach, Pero Cameron was impressed with the physical play and spirit shown by the Chinese Taipei squad on the floor.
“They played extremely hard, and early on I felt they were able to play a little bit tougher than us as a group, so I want to applaud them for that – and I also want to acknowledge my players for bringing home a tough win and closing out with a tough performance last night,” says Cameron.
“When you represent your country and you put on the singlet, in our country we expect the best from you; it doesn’t matter if you’re a domestic player or an NBA player, if you put your hand up, this is a great honour to represent your country. So I just want to acknowledge the players from Chinese Taipei for doing this, great job – the fight was great, especially from their captain.”
The Tall Blacks now travel to New Zealand for the second game in Window 1 of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, taking on Hong Kong at 4.30pm NZT. Tickets at https://bbnz.cloud/tickets or watch this game live – and free – on TVNZ+.
Stats:
New Zealand 89 – Rusbatch 26 PTS | Timmins 16 PTS & 9 REB | Vodanovich 16 PTS & 5 REB | Fotu 14 PTS & 6 REB | Britt 8 PTS | Ngatai 5 PTS & 5 AST | Harrison 4 PTS & 7 REB
Chinese Taipei 69 – C. Liu 20 PTS | Chun Chi Lin 9 PTS | Cheng Lin 9 PTS | Sin-Kuan Lin 8 PTS
Quarter scores: 26-20, 49-48, 66-61, 89-69
Full box score: http://bbnz.link/NZLvTPE
FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers – NZ Schedule
23 Feb 2024 – NZL vs Chinese Taipei (WON 89-69)
25 Feb 2024 – NZL vs Hong Kong (4.30pm NZT, watch live on TVNZ+ or Duke)
Tall Blacks Squad, 2024 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers (Chinese Taipei)
Taylor Britt, Canterbury Rams
Walter Brown, Tasmania JackJumpers / Canterbury Rams
Tobias Cameron, Taranaki Steelformers Airs
Max Darling, BNZ Breakers / Canterbury Rams
Dan Fotu, BNZ Breakers / Nelson Giants
Tyrell Harrison, Brisbane Bullets
Alex McNaught, BNZ Breakers / Nelson Giants
Jordan Ngatai, Tampereen Pyrinto / Taylor Hawkes Bay Hawks
Dion Prewster
Ethan Rusbatch, Franklin Bulls
Sam Timmins, Sydney Kings / Franklin Bulls
Tom Vodanovich, Tasmania JackJumpers / Auckland Tuatara
