New Zealand beat Puerto Rico 65-63 to book a semifinal place at the world basketball championships in Indianapolis today.
The Tall Blacks led at every quarter break, including a 31-29 advantage at halftime, and the scores were tied at 57-57 with five minutes left.
But two big shots by captain Pero Cameronincluding a three-pointer got them back in front late in the match. They held the advantage with big defence in the dying seconds to deny Puerto Rico a final shot.
The Tall Blacks will meet Yugoslavia in the semifinals on Sunday morning (NZT) after they pulled off a big upset, 81-78, over the host team the United States.
Germany will meet Argentina in the other semifinal on Sunday.
Injured Tall Blacks star Sean Marks hasn't given up hope of playing in the semifinal against Yugoslavia on Sunday.
The 2.10m centre sat out his fourth straight match with an eye injury as his team-mates toppled Puerto Rico today.
Marks, who starred in the Tall Blacks' opening two wins over Russia and Venezuela before suffering the injury against Argentina, said he would seek further medical opinion.
"The doctors have told me I should sit out the entire tournament and not risk it," Marks said.
"But it's going to be pretty tough for the next two days to stick to that I think. We'll have to wait and see, I'll probably try and get another check-up but at this stage I'm still out.
"I'd love to be part of the team, that's for sure."
"It's definitely tough not being able to participate physically. I'm just so proud of the guys and being a part of it, it's an incredible atmosphere and they've done so well."
And a fired-up Marks said the team weren't finished yet. Far from being the wide-eyed kids at the tournament, they now believed every team were beatable, including Yugoslavia, who toppled the United States today.
"We didn't come to the world champs to lose. We're just going to see how far we can go, who knows?
"We believe in ourselves and thank goodness for all the support we've had from back home. It's definitely helped us prepare, we know we've got a whole country cheering us on."
