The Tall Blacks have used a strong fourth quarter effort to beat the Shenzhen Leopards 77-67 overnight, in a pre-World Cup friendly in China.
Playing one of the top clubs in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), New Zealand took an early 18-15 lead afterthe first quarter – only for the Leopards to storm back in the second and third quarters to tie the game up at 54 apiece heading into the final frame. But the Kiwis surged ahead in the fourth, scoring 23 points in the quarter while holding Shenzhen to just 13 of their own, to pick up a win in front of the raucous China crowd.
New Zealand was paced by Izayah Le’afa with his 20 points on 7/12 shooting – including 4/7 from downtown – and 8 rebounds in only 21 minutes. He was supported by Yanni Wetzell’s 12 points and 8 rebounds (4 offensive) and Reuben Te Rangi’s 9 points and 4 rebounds, with Flynn Cameron adding 7 and Shea Ili 6 in limited minutes. The Tall Blacks elected to rest Finn Delany for this game while spreading the minutes out across the rest of the squad.
The Kiwis were the more efficient scorers on the night, shooting 26/63 overall at a 41.3% clip, including 6/24 (25%) from beyond the arc. They outrebounded their opponents 50-31 with 16 of those boards coming on the offensive end, but gave up 17 turnovers on the night.
For the Leopards, Justin Wright-Foreman led with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in 35 minutes of action, while Wang Haoran with 16 points and 4 rebounds and Sun Haoqin tallied 14 points along with 4 rebounds. Shenzhen were held to 38% shooting from the field, including a 4/21 effort from outside the arc.
The Tall Blacks remain in China for their start of the FIBA Solidarity Cup, which sees New Zealand taking on Italy on day two of the tournament – 9.30pm NZT on Monday 21 August. This game will be able to be viewed via FIBA’s Courtside 1891 app.
