Coach Pero Cameron was happy the Tall Blacks ended their Fiba World Cup campaign on a high with a 88-86 win over Egypt in their second classification game which went down to the wire in Manila.
New Zealand was spearheaded by strong bench efforts from Izayah Le’afa (27 points and 4 steals) and Isaac Fotu (14 points), while Finn Delany, the official game MVP, scored 27 points on 8-12 shooting. Captain Reuben Te Rangi added nine points and five rebounds – including a pair of clutch free throws with 17 seconds remaining – and Yanni Wetzell finished with six points and seven rebounds.
Egypt saw Ehab Amin with 19 points and 9 assists, while Amr El Gendy scored 11 of his 19 points during an Egyptian third-quarter surge. Centre Anas Mahmoud chipped in with 16 points and 9 rebounds, with Assem Marei adding 11 points and 6 rebounds on Saturday (Sunday NZ time).
“A great finish and a positive for us and a real tough game,’’ Cameron said. “Coming into this tournament we knew there were no easy games and we set our sights high and had high expectations.
“You can see when we get close and don’t achieve want we want, it affects us, and, ultimatel,y it was the next turnaround game [the 108-100 loss to Mexico] that hurt us – so we made it a point that we wouldn’t be low on energy again today. Hats off to my players for putting in that effort when the game came down to the wire.”
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The Tall Blacks celebrate a win over Egypt at the Fiba World Cup in Manila.
New Zealand started the game slowly, hitting 1-7 from the field in the first four minutes which allowed Egypt to go up 9-4. Five straight points from Fotu helped to balance the score; Fotu and Le’afa combining for 22 points in the Kiwi’s first quarter.
Down three to start the second period, New Zealand came out with fresh energy and focus; embarking on a 13-0 run while holding the Egyptians without a bucket for the first four minutes to build a 33-25 lead. Outscoring Egypt 25-10 in the quarter, the duo of Le’afa and Delany combined for 31 points on 9/11 shooting, building a 47-35 lead at the half – despite an off night from Te Rangi and Ili (0-8 from the field between them). As a team the Kiwis shot 45% in the half, but an uncharacteristic 3/11 (27%) from outside the arc.
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Isaac Fotu shoots for the Tall Blacks on his way to a 14-point haul.
With Ili benched for the second half due to injury, Egypt surged back in the third, with El Gendy leading a 13-2 run that bought the Egyptians to within three points with four minutes left.
Delany answered the call for New Zealand, scoring seven straight to help build a seven point buffer heading into the final frame, with Le’afa adding a quick 6 points and a pair of timely steals.
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Te Rangi came alive in the fourth, scoring five straight to briefly push the Tall Black’s lead back up to 12. But it would be short-lived, as another strong push from the Egyptians gave them an unlikely one point lead with two and a half minutes left. A huge corner triple from Jordan Ngatai helped to keep things even late, and Te Rangi iced it for the Kiwis at the line; making a pair of huge free throws under pressure.
The win saw some statistical improvements for New Zealand with the Tall Blacks limiting their turnovers to 12, the lowest number in their five World Cup games. While their 20 assists from 26 made field goals demonstrated a willingness to pass the ball, the Kiwis were outshot 46% to 41% on the night, shooting just 7-25 from beyond the arc.
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Finn Delany drives to the basketball in a MVP performance for the Tall Blacks against Egypt.
Delany looked back on a rollercoaster of a World Cup tournament and the lessons he and his teammates have learnt from it.
“It was a positive end to a tough world cup against a strong Egyptian side [tonight], but overall it wasn’t the results during the week that we wanted.
“The Tall Blacks and New Zealand we always compete with the superpower [countries] around the world, we say that a lot and we did that this week – my mission and our mission was to push that further and not accept just competing with the heavyweights, we wanted to come in and win and get to the second round. We fell short of that, but we learned a lot and we kept pushing.
“With Covid, everything over the past four years has felt like a very different group to my last World Cup and this is a great thing for the future – I believe a lot of guys here that weren’t around even a few years ago, they’re taking these experiences and growing relationships with other guys on and off the court, which is huge.
“I reinforce that message that we can compete against great teams, and just having our guys have experiences against the Greeces and the Team USAs and the world, it’s huge. There’s a lot of things we can learn and grow from.”
New Zealand 88 (top scorers: Finn Delany 27pts, Izayah Le’afa 27, Isaac Fotu 14, Reuben Te Rangi 9) Egypt 86 (Ehab Amin 19, Anas Mahmoud 16, Amr El Gendy 11, Assem Marei 11).
Quarter scores: NZ 22-25, 47-35, 68-61, 88-86.
