Basketball: Tall Blacks lose opener

SYDNEY - New Zealand were felled by a Canadian second-half shooting onslaught, going down 66-72, in the opening match of a four-nations pre-Olympic basketball tournament in Sydney yesterday.

The Tall Blacks could not defend a deserved 34-26 lead at halftime as Canada's outside shooters took advantage of extra space and time in the second half.

"The boys are a bit disappointed that we let one slip because we don't get many chances of winning at this level," said New Zealand coach Keith Mair. But he was proud of his side's first-half defensive display, led by NBA forward Sean Marks.

"We didn't keep our composure right through the second half," Mair said.

"If you look at the statistics, they shot about three times better in the second half and hit just about all their three-pointers."

Canada led for most of the first half but a sublime display of shooting from guard Phill Jones in the five minutes before halftime turned a five-point deficit into the eight-point advantage for the Tall Blacks.

Jones ended with a game-high 21 points. He also had easily the most court time of the New Zealanders, nearly 32 minutes.

Opposing shooting guard Sherman Hamilton was the key to Canada's fightback, nailing several unlikely shots to end with 19 points.

Canada could manage only four successful shots from the field out of 23 attempts in the first half, but turned that into 16 from 29 after halftime.

It gets harder now for the Tall Blacks, who face Russia today and Australia tomorrow before the semifinals on Friday.

Canada 72 (Sherman Hamilton 19, Andrew Mavis 9) New Zealand 66 (Phill Jones 21, Tony Rampton 10). Halftime: 26-34. NZPA