Tall Blacks take France

Reuters

TOWERING: France's Boris Diaw drives on New Zealand's Mika Vukona during their FIBA Basketball World Championship game in Izmir.

LATEST: The New Zealand Tall Blacks will take a three-game winning streak into the knockout phase of the FIBA World Championship after an impressive 82-70 win over France in Izmir this morning.

With the win secured the Tall Blacks pressed for a margin of victory that would get them up to third in Group D and avoid an eighth-final match-up against hosts Turkey and succeeded. Just.

Instead, the Tall Blacks will play Russia (Tuesday morning NZ Time) in the round of 16 knockout games after finishing the preliminary round in a three-way tie for second in the group, with 3-2 records. Defending world champions Spain took second, New Zealand third and France fourth after a goal average tie-breaker separated the nations.

Tom Abercrombie, who had a mixed night offensively, hit a corner three with 6.9 seconds remaining, then France's Nicolas Batum rimmed out a three at the buzzer to preserve the 12-point margin for New Zealand. Had Abercrombie missed or Batum been successful with his long-range attempt, the goal average tie-breaker would have been reversed, with France claiming third and New Zealand fourth.

The win was a significant one for the Tall Blacks, who were on the brink of elimination after back-to-back losses to Lithuania and Spain to start the tournament but demonstrated the trademark resilience of Tall Blacks teams by closing out the group with three straight wins over Lebanon, Canada and France.

Kirk Penney top-scored for New Zealand with 25 points on 6-of-15 shooting, helped by 15 points from forward Mika Vukona, who also added six rebounds and five assists to his stat-line.

Already through to the knockout phase of the tournament, the Tall Blacks produced a high quality display of swarming defence on France in the first half, holding them to 25 points while taking a double-digit lead.

Penney lead the Tall Blacks with 10 points, including a pair of threes, at halftime, while seven other players had got on the score sheet, Vukona the next best with eight points.

A strong start, especially from outside the arc, saw the Tall Blacks lead for much of the first quarter, only for a late three-pointer from Nando de Colo putting the French up by three at 20-17 in the final seconds.

Penney, being guarded by Portland Trail Blazers forward Batum, hit a pair of three-pointers to start the game, sending the growing New Zealand cheering section into a chant of 'M-V-P M-V-P'. The first three came from the corner, getting Batum in the air on a shot fake and the second with Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw in his grill.

Lead by point guard Lindsay Tait's ball denial on his French opposite Nando de Colo, the Tall Blacks hassled the French into seven turnovers and just 27 percent (6-of-22) shooting from the floor in the first half. New Zealand shot their best three-point percentage of the week in the first and second quarters, hitting on 8-of-17.

In the second period, the Tall Blacks started to find an offensive rhythm only seen in the win over Lebanon and at times in the Lithuania game. On consecutive possessions, Phill Jones hit a step-back jumper, followed by three-pointers from Vukona and Frank to put New Zealand up 27-22. Soon after, Vukona made a tough drive to the basket, was fouled by Diaw, got the shot to drop and completed the three-point play. That stretched the lead to 10 points, 35-25, with 2:22 left until halftime.

France went with their tallest line-up to exploit their size advantage on the Tall Blacks - with Ian Mahinmi, Nicolas Batum, Florient Pietrus, Boris Diaw and Nando de Colo - while Nenad Vucinic handed captain Pero Cameron his first start of the tournament, at centre, joining Lindsay Tait, Kirk Penney, Tom Abercrombie and Mika Vukona in the starting five.

With the French showing respect for the haka, Pero Cameron marched the Tall Blacks forward to the centre-court line in their most stirring haka of the tournament.

SCOREBOARD

New Zealand Tall Blacks 82 (Kirk Penney 25, Mika Vukona 15) France 70 (Yannick Bokolo 13, Mickael Gelabale 12, Nando de Colo 10)
1Q: 17-20
HT: 39-25 (22-5)
3Q: 58-43 (19-18)
FT: 82-70 (24-27)

- © Fairfax NZ News