Anchor Junior Tall Blacks to play for 11th and 12th at World Cup

The Anchor Junior Tall Blacks will play their final classification match for 11th and 12th at the FIBA U19 World Cup, after losing overnight to Puerto Rico 74-70 in Cairo.

It was a familiar refrain from the young New Zealanders, with missed free throws and turnovers costing them any chance of victory against the Central Americans. After a strong start to lead 20-13 at the end of the first quarter, the JTBs allowed Puerto Rico back into the game and it was leveled up at the main break.

Head Coach Daryl Cartwright said his team simply did not maintain their standards throughout the game.

"They adjusted to the good start from us and then we didnt handle the pressure again with sloppy turnovers and missed shots, we made it very difficult for ourselves and left too much work to do.

"They made some adjustments to the way they were defending with some zone and trapping us and unfortunately we didnt keep the same standards we started with. At the end of the game they had 19 more possessions and if you give an opposition that you are not going to win a game, and we couldnt rein them in."

Cartwright says despite the rankings going into the game, he feels it was a lost opportunity and a game they should have won.

"Rankings say they are 12th and we are 33rd, but that is just a number and I said after the game we didnt get beat by a better team, I felt we lost that game and I know the guys feel the same. You only get one chance at a World Cup and after missing the top 8 the top 10 was where we wanted to be. That is gone now though and we certainly cant afford to play like that tomorrow or we will get beaten again."

Best for the Kiwis were Tai Wynyard with a double double of 15 and 13, Quinn Clinton with 15 and 5, and Sam Waardenburg with 14 and 7.

New Zealand dominated on the boards 46 to 33, but shot just 9 of 20 free throws and committed 23 turnovers.

The Anchor Junior Tall Blacks will now play for 11th and 12th in their final game tomorrow before returning home.

Anchor Junior Tall Blacks 70

Wynyard 15 &13, Clinton 15 & 5, Waardenburg 14 & 7

Puerto Rico 74

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Basketball New Zealand