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Nenad Vucinic - Source: Photosport -
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The New Zealand Tall Blacks have sunk to a 98-76 loss to Belgium in the sixth game of their European Tour in Oostende on Thursday.
Led by 28 points from shooting guard and captain Kirk Penney, the Tall Blacks were in the game at halftime, down by three points, but fell away in the second half to lose by 22 points despite shooting 57 percent from the field.
Belgium made 10 three-pointers and were led by 20 points from guard Dimitri Lauwers as they consigned New Zealand to a third straight loss in Europe.
Turnovers, points in the paint and bench points proved to be the key stats and Belgium dominated all three.
The Belgians, gearing up for the additional qualifying round of the European championship next month, saw their bench out-scored the Tall Blacks 42-19, had 42 points to 20 inside and had 14 less turnovers, 24-10.
Penney shot 8-of-15 from the field, including four-of-nine threes, and went 8-of-9 from the foul-line for his game-high 28, extending his streak as New Zealand's leading scorer to six games.
Rookie Tom Abercrombie, getting his second straight start at small forward, exploded with seven points in the first quarter but had four points the rest of the way, finishing as the Tall Blacks only other double-digit scorer with 11.
Centre Alex Pledger finished with eight points and seven rebounds, helping the Tall Blacks to a 33-26 rebounding advantage.
New Zealand converted 57 percent from the field, making 7-of-15 threes but were hurt by turnovers and free-throw shooting, where they went 21-of-34.
Backing up Lauwers was fellow guard Roel Moors with 18 points and forward Maxime Dezeeuw with 15 points as Belgium, playing without little-used Los Angeles Lakers back-up centre DJ Mbenga, shot 52 percent from the floor, including 10-of-24 on three-point attempts, and had 12 offensive rebounds.
Trailing by just three points at the half, 47-44, New Zealand fell behind in the third, losing the quarter 24-13 to be behind 14 points entering the fourth. Belgium evened the rebounding stakes in the third and upped their defensive intensity, holding the TBs to 13 points.
Penney had 14 points and Abercrombie eight points as New Zealand shot 54 percent from the field in the first half.The Kiwis held the rebounding edge 22-9 but had committed nine turnovers to one and were outscored 22-12 in the paint.
New Zealand led 24-23 after the first quarter, with Penney and Abercrombie combining for 16 of those points.
The Tall Blacks meet Belgium in game two on Friday morning at 6am (NZ time) in Antwerp, before heading to Finland, also preparing for the additional qualifying round of the European championship, for one game to end the tour on Monday morning, 4am (NZ time).
