New Zealand has suffered a second straight loss at the FIBA Under 17 Basketball World Cup in Spain, beaten 120-72 by Serbia in a high-scoring encounter on Sunday night.
New Zealand were well-served by Julius Halaifonua who amassed a game-high 26 points. The North Harbour centre made a couple of 3-pointers in his 10 from 16 (63%) effort from the field, along with 4 from 5 free-throws. Guard Hunter Trego was the other Kiwi in double figures, tabling 10 points to accompany a team-best 6 assists.
Livewire forward Nic Book was hampered by foul issues in this one, fouling out in just 17 minutes with 6 points, 3 assists and a pair of rebounds to his name.
New Zealand made a dream start as Will Shortt and Halaifonua gave New Zealand a 5-4 lead. When Hunter Trego knocked down a triple and Halaifonua did likewise, the Kiwis were 7 points ahead and Serbia needed a timeout.
Serbia, ranked 6th in the World (NZ is ranked 30th by comparison), were struggling to gain the initiative with the scores tied at 15 points apiece late in the first quarter. However the final three minutes of the period was all Serbia as they enjoyed an 11-0 run to close the opening quarter 27-17 ahead.
Shortt’s inside basket early in the second period was followed by a Hunter Trego three as the Serbian advantage was trimmed to 29-22.
George Turner’s triple and another score for Halaifonua kept the Kiwis in touch – and when Dante Matakatea landed a jump shot the Kiwis were within ten points (39-29).
Kaia Berridge and Book got on the scoresheet but Serbia began to pull away, closing the first half with a 59-38 lead.
The second half was a similar story. New Zealand continued to find gaps in the Serbian defence but were leaking too many points at the defensive end as the turnover count began to climb.
That said, Serbia are a world (and European) powerhouse and for large parts of the game the Kiwis – to their credit – were able to compete with their formidable opposition.
Following a day off it doesn’t get any easier for New Zealand, with World no. 3 ranked France up next – this final Group A fixture held on Tuesday night at 11.15pm NZT. Catch the game live at nz.basketball/tv
New Zealand 72 – Halaifonua 26 PTS & 6 REBS | H Trego 10 PTS & 6 ASS | Shortt 9 PTS | Matakatea 7 PTS | Turner 6 PTS | Book 6 PTS | P Trego 3 PTS | Petzer 3 PTS | Berridge 2 PTS
Serbia 120 – F Jović 18 | L Gačić 16
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) – Re-watch game at nz.basketball/tv
Sun 3 July vs Serbia – (L, 120-72) – Re–watch at nz.basketball/tv
Tue 5 July vs France – 11.15pm – 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.
New Zealand is in Group A for pool play, which includes Canada, France and Serbia.
