Basketball: Tall Blacks go down in Brisbane

Aleks Maric of Australia celebrates winning the second match between the Australian Boomers and the New Zealand Tall Blacks. Photo / Getty Images

Boomers 81
Tall Blacks 64

The Tall Blacks will have to win through a tough repechage tournament in London if they are to play the Olympics after losing the Oceania Championship Series in Brisbane last night.

After a grim struggle, the New Zealanders led by a point heading into the final quarter but they were comprehensively over-run by the Boomers in a lop-sided final term.

The Boomers settled the game - and the series - with a decisive 21-0 run early in the final quarter.

Although they battled hard, the Tall Blacks paid the price for key players Tom Abercrombie and Mika Vukona landing in early foul trouble.
Abercrombie's unhappy series continued after he fouled out early in the fourth quarter after just 9min 54s of court time with just two points to his name.

Kirk Penney played 37 straight minutes and, although he was unable to match his game one tally of 30 points, he still topped all scorers with 17.

The Tall Blacks will lament a poor night from the free throw line, where they shot just 18 of 27 attempts.

The Boomers lacked a dominant scorer but their depth of talent eventually proved decisive as the Tall Blacks ran out of steam.

The Tall Blacks made a slow start, shooting just four field goals in the opening quarter to slide into an early 15-24 hole.

Casey Frank stepped up with two three-pointers as they fought their way back into the contest. Mark Dickel also knocked down a brace of threes as the Tall Blacks levelled the scores with just over a minute remaining in the opening half.

A Mark Worthington jumper gave the Boomers a 36-34 lead at the break, a remarkable scoreline given that both Abercrombie and Vukona were held scoreless.

Penney played the entire first half and, while he missed all three of his three-point attempts, he still scrambled in 11 points to lead all scorers.

Two Penney free throws gave the Tall Blacks their first lead, 42-40, mid-way through the third quarter.

After the tempestuous happenings of game one in Melbourne, this contest was played in better spirits. However the expected falre-up duly arrived with the scores tied late in the third quarter when Patrick Mills was called for a technical foul after Dickel had appeared to use an elbow.

Penney's free throw meant the Tall Blacks took the slenderest of leads into the final quarter but a JoeIngles three put the Boomers back on top as they at last looked to inject some pace into the game.
The Tall Blacks couldn't live with that step up and the Boomers cruised away, taking the final quarter 28-10.

TALL FERNS: A 73-92 defeat also consigned the Tall Ferns to a series loss. Australia's Opals booked their ticket to the Olympics with a comfortable victory.

They led 22-8 after the Tall Ferns managed just two field goals in the opening quarter. The New Zealanders' best period came in the second quarter when they outscored the Australians 27-20, at one stage closing to within three points.

Micaela Cocks and Natalie Taylor led the Tall Ferns with 17 points each. Centre Suzy Batkovic top scored with 19 points for the much taller Australians.

AUSTRALIA 81 (B Newley 12 A Ogilvy 11) bt NEW ZEALAND 64 (K Penney 17 A Pledger 9) at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

- NZ HERALD STAFF