Photo credit: FIBA Asia
New Zealand men's national basketball team, Tall Blacks (4-0) defeated Gilas Pilipinas Men (1-2), 106-60 in the third window of the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers on Thursday, June 30 at the Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
Six Tall Blacks players finished in double figures with Dion Prewster leading the way with 15 points. Finn Delany with a solid game of 14 points (6/11 fg), along with 7 rebounds and 1 steal. Jordan Ngatai and Ethan Rusbatch added 12 points each.
Carl Tamayo paced Gilas with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting with 5 rebounds and 1 assist while Rhenz Abando added 11 points. Francis Lopez finished with 8 points (2/4 fg) while Dwight Ramos added 6 points (2/11 fg, 0/5 3pts), 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
Gilas shot 21/62 from the field including 4-of-26 shooting from downtown and went 14-of-18 from the free throw line while New Zealand shot 38/76 fg, 9/33 3pts, 21/22 ft and the Tall Blacks out-rebounded Gilas 47-33, NZ had more assists 14-11 and steal 10-4. Gilas had 19 turnovers while New Zealand had 10.
Gilas will face India (0-3) on July 3, 2022 (Sunday, 7:00PM PHL time) at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Scores:
NEW ZEALAND 106 – Prewster 15, Delany 14, Rusbatch 12, Ngatai 12, Webster 11, Ili 10, Vodanovich 8, Britt 7, Cameron 6, Smith-Milner 5, Timmins 4, Harris 2.
PHILIPPINES 60 – Tamayo 16, Abando 11, Lopez 8, Ramos 6, Ravena 6, Quiambao 4, Belangel 3, Chiu 2, Abarrientos 2, Navarro 2, Ildefonso 0.
Quarters: 23-13, 47-21, 73-43, 106-60.
