Tall Blacks suffer narrow loss

Leading for the majority of the game did not translate into a win for the New Zealand Tall Blacks in the second game of their European Tour in Estonia today.

Captain Kirk Penney top-scored with 17 points as the Tall Blacks fell to Estonia for the second straight night, 57-54, at Rakvere Spordihall.

New Zealand were ahead for all but a minute of the first three quarters but could not hold off the Estonians in the fourth, seeing a lead that peaked at nine points in the third quarter and a chance to win disappear.

"It is disappointing," said head coach Nenad Vucinic, who coaches Estonian club team BC Kalev/Cramo in the capital Tallinn.

"Again we didn't finish the game the way we wanted. We showed our inexperience at the end and our lack of being together. It basically came down to one possession at the end."

A thrilling fourth quarter featured seven lead changes and two ties, with Estonia taking the lead for good with three-plus minutes remaining.

The home team took their first lead since 5-2 in the first minute of the game with 7:15 remaining, 45-44, but New Zealand did not let the win get away without a fight.

Back-to-back baskets from Jarrod Kenny and Casey Frank gave the Tall Blacks a 48-45 lead, before Tanel Tein, the Estonians' leading scorer with 11 points, hit his second three to tie it up with 5:34 to play.

Waikato Pistons forward Tom Abercrombie, who scored nine of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, twice gave New Zealand a lead but three baskets in the final four minutes from Estonian point guard Tanel Sokk was enough.

A turnover on their penultimate possession cost the Tall Blacks a chance to go ahead with a minute remaining and a potential game-tying three from Penney three at the buzzer bounced away.

"It was a couple of turnovers, a couple of box outs and not executing down the stretch, that was about it," said forward Jeremiah Trueman, who got his first international start.

"We're just a young team. We haven't played much together, this is only our second game together. I'm sure as the tour goes on we're going to get more comfortable playing with each other and improve a lot as a team."

And the Kiwis did make the improvements Vucinic had demanded after their tour-opening 58-49 loss to Estonia on Thursday morning, outrebounding their hosts 45-32 and shooting a healthier 6-of-19 on three-point attempts.

"The positives were that we heavily outrebounded Estonia," Vucinic said. "We struggled with that last night and allowed them 21 offensive rebounds but tonight they only had 10 offensive rebounds.

"We're just lacking offensive power to be able to score in the 70s and 80s at the moment.

"We were happy with our rebounding tonight and our defence is starting to get to where it can be. Offensively we're just not there yet and that can take some time."

Penney (3/14 FG, 3/7 3pt, 2/5 FT) with three assists, was held to three points in the second half as the Estonians locked down on the Tall Blacks main scoring threat.

NBL Rookie of the Year Abercrombie stepped up off the bench, finishing the game with 11 points (4/5 FG, 1/2 3pt, 2/2 FT) and five rebounds, while 17-year-old Rob Loe and fellow starter Mika Vukona had nine rebounds each, and back-up centre Alex Pledger swatted three blocks.

The Tall Blacks shot 20/56 (36 percent) from the field, while Estonia went 20/62 FG (32 percent) and 4/20 3pt (20 percent). Turnovers killed NZ, with 21 to Estonia's 11.

New Zealand led Estonia 32-26 at the half, Penney leading the way with 14 first half points as the Tall Blacks did a better job in the areas that let them down in game one, leading the rebounding 24-17 and shooting 40 percent from the field, including 4/10 three-pointers.

The Kiwis, who led 17-14 at quarter time, led by as many as eight points late in the second period after scoring eight straight points, before a four-point play from Tein and a Vukona basket in the final 13 seconds saw them ahead six at the major break.

Estonia got back within a point quickly after halftime but NZ scored the next eight points, finished off by a three from Loe, to lead by nine with 5:24 remaining in the third.

However, Estonia answered with eight of the next nine points to close out the third quarter, down just two points as New Zealand went without a field-goal in the last five minutes.

Penney and Vukona were the only survivors from game one to start as Vucinic opted for Loe and Trueman in the front-court and Waikato Pistons guard Michael Fitchett at the point.

- © Fairfax NZ News