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Tall Blacks skipper Kirk Penney - Source: Photosport
A dominant final quarter from Australian basketball rising star
Joe Ingles snuffed out the Tall Blacks' brave bid for a
trans-Tasman upset in the Oceania series opener in Sydney on Sunday
night.
The Spain-based guard poured in 10 points in the space of two
minutes, midway through the final quarter, for a match haul of 26
as the Boomers won 84-77 in the first of the two-game series for
the annual Ramsay Shield.
Inspired by captain Kirk Penney, the Tall Blacks sniffed an upset
when they led 64-61 at three-quarter time before southpaw Ingles
weaved his magic.
Penney topscored with 23 for the Tall Blacks while 21-year-old
Breakers giant Alex Pledger looked the part on the international
stage with an impressive 16 points and six rebounds.
Veteran forward Mika Vukona sparked up the New Zealanders with an
energetic game including 10 rebounds.
For the Boomers, Dallas Mavericks NBA big man Nathan Jawai scored
17 points and dragged down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The rebuilding Tall Blacks were coming off a modest European tour
where they won two of eight, while the Boomers were fresh from
their first win over Athens 2004 gold medallists Argentina in 19
years.
The hosts were also playing their first home game for new coach
Brett Brown, whose assistants include Breakers coach Andrej
Lemanis.
The Tall Blacks entered the series without two key men -- veteran
captain Pero Cameron (ankle) and Craig Bradshaw, who recently
signed a new contract with a South Korean club.
But the visitors got a lucky break when one of three Boomers 2008
Olympians, Mark Worthington, was ruled out before the match with a
foot injury.
The Boomers were without two of their American-based stars Andrew
Bogut (unavailable) and Patrick Mills (injured), but were boosted
by Jawai's presence.
In a rebuilding team Penney carried plenty on his shoulders, and he
delivered early with a trio of three-pointers as the Boomers led
25-21 at quarter time.
Pledger, at 2.13m the tallest man in either team, made a strong
start and had a bruising early duel with Jawai.
North Harbour forward BJ Anthony -- son of NBL legend Ben Anthony
-- became the fifth Tall Blacks debutant this year and showed some
nice early touches off the bench.
The Boomers threatened to race clear when they led 42-32 with 2min
50sec left in the first half but the young Tall Blacks, marshalled
by point guard Lindsay Tait, showed character to fight back to
42-43 down at halftime.
The visitors had a spring in their steps and the lead seesawed
through the third quarter.
Penney charged through Boomers guard James Harvey for a three-point
play then Michael Fitchett nailed a three-pointer on the buzzer to
give the Tall Blacks a three-point lead entering the final
period.
The second and final game in the series is in Wellington on
Tuesday.
Both sides have qualified for next year's world championships in
Turkey, with this series to decide their respective seedings.
