Yannick Wetzell of New Zealand and Dario Dreznjak of Croatia in action during the FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament match in Piraeus, Greece. Photo / Getty Images
The Tall Blacks have made a winning start to the Paris Olympics last chance qualifying tournament in Greece with a comeback 90-86 win over Croatia.
New Zealand went on a 13-2 run in the final 3:46 minutes to seal the win and can advance to the semifinal stage even
with a close loss to Slovenia tomorrow morning.
The top team teams in each three-team group advance to the semifinals. The six teams at the tournament are all playing for one spot in the Olympics. Hosts Greece are the favourites, featuring NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo, and seem a likely semifinal match-up should the Tall Blacks finish second in their group.
A win over Slovenia will see the Tall Blacks top the group but they can still finish second if they lose by less than 11 points.
New Zealand trailed 79-74 going into the final quarter but finished the stronger. Corey Webster (21 points) and Shea Ili (18 points) led the way while the Tall Blacks bench out-performed Croatia 31-13.
