Kirk Penney won the game for New Zealand with a last second three-pointer. Photo / Getty Images
The Tall Blacks eked out a tough road win in Seoul last night with a Kirk Penney buzzer beating three pointer seeing the New Zealanders home 71-70 in front of a partisan home crowd.
As has been the case throughout the five game series it was a game of runs
with neither team ever saying die in a heart stopping clash. The Koreans came back with a strong third quarter performance after they trailed by 11 points at halftime and as many as 14 early in that third quarter, storming back into the game so well they led 50-49 at the three quarter break.
The final stanza was largely a one possession affair with the Koreans the ones to edge in front more often than not. But in a frantic final minute the Tall Blacks missed two good looks from downtown to edge in front before an acrobatic Tom Abercrombie put back after a Corey Webster 3 rimmed out left Korea in front by one point with 15 seconds to play.
The Tall Blacks fouled and Korea made just one of the two freebies and with 2.3 seconds on the clock and possession, Nenad Vucinic called time out and gathered the troops to run a play. And what a play it was and what a player to have on the end of it. Kirk Penney showed nerves of steel as he lined up the three with the buzzer ringing around the stadium as the ball arced towards the hoop, followed by the dreaded (for the Koreans) sound of ball through net and the win was New Zealand's to savour.
Tall Blacks captain Mika Vukona was delighted with the character shown by his team in the face of a noisy home crowd and some tough calls.
