The Tall Blacks lost a last possession game against Iran in Riga tonight, going down 75-72 in a game that they seemed to have in their control for most of the distance, with mental lapses and a ten point final quarter proving costly in the end.
Head Coach Paul Henare rued those lapses in a game he thought had slipped by his team.
"We have just spoken about how we can't afford to lower our intensity, we are simply not a good enough team to have those lapses and expect not to be punished at this level. These are very good teams and they will hurt you if you are not locked in at all times.
"We extended on them a few times in the game but each time we let them back in, the second quarter we conceded 27 points when we had the chance to build further on what we had achieved with a very good start. Then in the final quarter we were outscored 8-2 over the closing five minutes, which we need to address."