“Wasn’t pretty”: Tall Blacks take first Basketball World Cup Qualifying win

Relief for the Tall Blacks, holding off the Philippines 69-66 in Pasay City for their first win of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The New Zealanders almost squandered an 11-point lead as the home team missed a three point buzzer-beater that would’ve tied the game.

Max Darling top-scored with 11 points, Sam Mennenga had a double-double with ten points and 14 rebounds, while Alex McNaught hit three triples in a ten-point haul.

The match started well enough for the Tall Blacks, heading into the first quarter break with a 25-21 advantage.

The Philippines grinded their way back into the game in the second quarter to tie the scores at 37-all at halftime.

New Zealand’s defence stepped up in the third quarter, allowing the home team to score just nine points as a monster dunk from Tyrell Harrison extended the Tall Blacks lead to 11 points with one quarter to play.

But the home crowd turned up the noise in the fourth quarter as the lead was cut to just two points with 7.1 seconds left.

Ruben Te Rangi missed a free throw, allowing the Philippines a chance to send the game to overtime, but a long-range three-point attempt missed.

The Tall Blacks securing their first victory of the campaign following two losses to Australia.

Coach Judd Flavell is happy to win ugly.

“We came here to get the win and we got the job done,” Flavell said in the post-game press conference.

“It wasn’t pretty, not a beautiful game of basketball to watch. Plenty of areas we could’ve tidied up. We gave up far too many offensive rebounds, we also turned the ball over.”

Flavell was pleased with the defensive effort though, holding Philippines star Justin Brownlee to just four points.

“We know the damage he can do, he’s given us the business before in recent games, so he was a large focal point for us. I thought that went a long way for us defensively tonight.”

The Tall Blacks now head to Guam for the final game of Window 2 on Sunday, 8pm NZT.