Mika Vukona. Photo / Getty Images
The basketball gods paid one back to the Tall Blacks tonight, allowing skipper Mika Vukona to slot one of two from the free-throw line in the dying seconds to edge Cameroon 63-62 at Shenzhen, China.
Poetically, that was exactly the same score the NZ men lost to China by two
nights ago, when local legend Wang Zhizhi scored on the final buzzer.
The Kiwis had their hands full with the athletic Africans, ranked 43 in the world against New Zealand's 18, who were led by NBA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute of the Sacramento Kings.
After a full day of travel yesterday, the Tall Blacks arrived at the four-team tournament a little road weary and sluggish through the early stages of their opening fixture.
"It was tough and I felt the guys looked a bit average at the start of the game, but as it went on, we got better and better," observed assistant coach Pero Cameron.
