NEW ZEALAND (NZ) showed Gilas Pilipinas who’s boss in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers (ACQ).
Hell-bent on avenging their previous defeat on Philippine soil in the November window, the Tall Blacks swarmed all over the Nationals in their return match and dispute for Group B’s top seeding on Sunday in Auckland, 87-70.
Not even the presence of a big-sized, roaring Pinoy crowd at the Spark Arena could give the travel-weary visitors the extra push as the world No. 22 hosts charged at them like a freight train in all of 40 minutes.
A thunderous 22-8 barrage in the last 7:31 of the first period spiked by four booming triples was all it took for the Kiwis to set the tone for the strong strike-back to Gilas’ 93-89 upset in Manila nearly three months before.
The Tall Blacks claimed the No. 1 position in the bracket with 5-1 while relegating the Filipinos, who also stumbled in their preceding road game against Chinese-Taipei last Thursday, 89-93, to No. 2 at 4-2. Both have secured their tickets to the Asia Cup proper set for August in Saudi Arabia.
“They came out and gave us a smash-mouth in the first quarter and we really never recovered,” said Gilas coach Tim Cone.
The hosts hit six three-points in the first 10 minutes as they seized control, 30-15, and went on to lead by 28. The Nationals got to within 11 halfway through the fourth but the Tall Blacks quickly extinguished the threat.
It was a whimper of an ending for Gilas, which lost steam after going 4-0 in the first two windows last year. Prior to the away gigs in the ACQ’s February window, Mr. Cone’s crew got blown out by Lebanon and Egypt in last week’s Doha Invitational Cup. A come-from-behind verdict over host Qatar to open that four-nation meet turned out to be their lone success in this whirlwind trip.
“We did the Doha trip before we came here to try to get more time together and play more games and it probably hurt us more than it helped us in terms of being ready for Taiwan and New Zealand,” noted Mr. Cone.
“But we were trying to look at a bigger picture because we know we’re not going to have much time to come together and prepare for the FIBA Asia Cup. It’s cumulative experiences so we’re trying to take each window as an experience and move it on to the next one and onto the next one and hopefully grow and improve.”
He said the absence of 7-foot-3 Kai Sotto from an ACL injury presented a major issue.
“We lost a key player so we’re still trying to adjust how to play without him and that’s the things we’re going to be talking about and thinking about as we go into FIBA Asia.”
NZ hit 13 booming triples against Gilas’ six and held Justin Brownlee to 10 on a five-of-eight shooting after his 39-point eruption against the Taiwanese.
Tohi Smith-Milner anchored the Kiwis’ long-range bombing with five three-balls as he took scoring honors with 25 to go with nine rebounds. Corey Webster (14), Reuben Te Rangi (12) and Jordan Ngatai (11), who made two three-pointers apiece, backed him up.
Chris Newsome (13), June Mar Fajardo (11) and AJ Edu (15 rebounds and seven points) stepped up with Brownlee shackled. — Olmin Leyba
The scores:
New Zealand 87 – Smith-Milner 25, Webster 14, Te Rangi 12, Ngatai 11, Britt 8, Wynyard 7, Le’afa 5, Darling 3, K. Isaac 2, Brown 0, T. Isaac 0, Ball 0.
Philippines 70 – Newsome 13, Fajardo 11, Brownlee 10, Oftana 8, Ramos 8, Edu 7, Aguilar 6, Tamayo 4, Perez 3, Quiambao 0, Thompson 0, Malonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 30-15; 53-33; 74-55; 87-70.
