Tall Blacks fall to Australian Boomers in Asia Cup semifinal in Indonesia

A fourth-quarter fightback in the end proved fruitless as the Tall Blacks were made to lament a slow start in their Asia Cup semifinal defeat to the Australian Boomers.

Pero Cameron’s ‘Baby Blacks’ fell to an 85-76 loss in Jakarta on Sunday (NZ time) in a battle which got rather tense in the closing stages.

Behind by a dozen at three-quarter-time, the New Zealanders fought their way back to within two points with three and a half minutes to play, only for the Aussies to reply with two clutch three-pointers to Thon Maker then William McDowell-White.

From there, the world No 3-ranked side hung on to seal a place in the decider against Lebanon, who pipped Jordan 86-85 in the other semi.

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The Tall Blacks, ranked No 27 in the world, were fielding a highly inexperienced side at the event, due to many players’ club commitments, plus the fact the tournament is now a standalone event, with no qualification implications, and next year’s World Cup being the big focus.

But, on the back of downing South Korea in their quarterfinal, the young Kiwis – who went into the tournament with only two players having double-figure caps for their country – again showed what they were capable of.

Sam Timmins and Jordan Hunt led their scoring with 16 points apiece, Timmins sinking 10 of those in the final quarter comeback, as well as adding a team-high eight rebounds on the night, with Hunt coming up with a game-high three blocks.

Flynn Cameron contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Kruz Perrott-Hunt (11) was the other to score in double digits.

The Boomers were led by Maker, whose 18 points and nine rebounds were game-high numbers, while McDowell-White notched 15 and seven, and Mitchell McCarron 13 and seven.

After being down 5-2 early, back-to-back buckets from Maker soon gave the Australians a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, though Hunt’s triple at the quarter-time buzzer cut things to 23-19 at the first break.

A stifling full-court-defence pressured the Tall Blacks into multiple turnovers in the second quarter and the Aussies went on a 9-0 scoring run which transformed into a 49-37 halftime lead on the strength of their 50% shooting to New Zealand’s 39%.

Both tams started cold to open the third period, and after two and a half minutes the Boomers finally opened the scoring, before the Tall Blacks made quite the run to level the quarter at 17-17 and go into the final stanza a dozen down.

They indeed then gave themselves a shot at the upset, though it wasn’t to be.

“It was a tough game for us… we could have had a better start, and a couple of discipline areas we could have been better on,” coach Cameron lamented afterwards.

“But very proud of the group to bring the game back to a serious fight in the last four minutes.

“I’m just really happy our team met that challenge. They are young, but we have high expectations, and you have to set those goals, and you have to be accountable, and you have to have these standards that you try to meet, and these tournaments bring the good and the not so good, and you can address things, you do grow, and you can learn.”

The Tall Blacks will now face Jordan in Sunday night’s (NZT) third-place playoff, aiming to better their fourth-place finish at their only previous appearance, at the last event in 2017 in Lebanon.

AT A GLANCE

Australian Boomers 85 (Thon Maker 18, William McDowell-White 15, Mitchell McCarron 13, Tyrese Proctor 13, Keanu Pinder 11) Tall Blacks 76 (Jordan Hunt 16, Sam Timmins 16, Flynn Cameron 15, Kruz Perrott-Hunt 11). Q1: 23-19, Q2: 26-18, Q3: 17-17, Q4: 19-22.