4 Aug 2014

Tall Blacks dominate Ivory coast

1:08 pm on 4 August 2014

The Tall Blacks have beaten the Ivory Coast 79-55 in their second game of a four team basketball tournament in China.

Head coach Nenad Vucinic rotated his roster throughout the match, with no player on the floor for more than 22 minutes, as the team continues to build up towards the World Cup in Spain at the end of the month.

It was a cautious start with the Tall Blacks trailing 8-12 after the first quarter before the New Zealanders took a 34-20 lead after dominant second period.

Best of the New Zealanders on offence was shooting guard Kirk Penney with 26 points with good support from Corey Webster (13), Tom Abercrombie (11) and Tai Webster (10).

Captain Mika Vukona lead the rebounds with 10.

In their opening game of the tournament on Saturday, the Tall Blacks beat Cameroon 75-66.

New Zealand next face the home team and current Chinese champions the Guangdong Southern Tigers on Monday night at 10:35pm.

Tall Blacks 79

Pts: Penney 26, C Webster 13, Abercrombie 11, T Webster 10

Rebs: Vukona 10, Frank 7, Penney 5, T Webster 4, Abercrombie 4

Ivory Coast 55