Basketball: Tall Blacks crush China

Tall Blacks big man Isaac Fotu. Photo / Getty

The Tall Blacks have made it three from three on their overseas tour, crushing hosts China 98-74 overnight.

The visitors were in command the whole encounter in a promising all-around display, booking a semifinal spot at the Atlas International Basketball Challenge.

Following victories over Belarus and Japan, the romp against the more favoured China was the most commanding of the lot, and will continue to boost the confidence within the camp.

Aside from an early 7-5 lead, China barely threatened, with the Tall Blacks utilising a vast array of scorers to take a 20 point buffer midway through the second quarter.

With Thomas Abercrombie compiling four point plays and Tai Webster getting to the line with regularity, the Tall Blacks opened up a dominating 50-22 halftime lead.

China were struggling to create any offensive flow through a barrage of missed shots, going 6/24 from the field and missing six first half free-throws, while nine offensive rebounds re-generated extra possessions for the Tall Blacks.

China managed to cling to some respectability in the second half, edging the third and tying the fourth quarter, but never came close to closing the gap as the Tall Blacks added a third international victory to their belt.

Rookie centre Michael Karena was the star of the show, scoring 18 points on a perfect 9/9 shooting in a superb second half offensive display. Corey Webster ended with an efficient 16, Tai Webster added 13 and Isaac Fotu contributed 10 to the cause.

The Tall Blacks are now set for a day off before the semifinals take place late Saturday night and Sunday morning.