Tall Blacks pick themselves off the floor to secure bronze

The Tall Blacks bounced back from an embarrassing semifinal loss to Canada to salvage basketball bronze at the Commonwealth Games.

New Zealand toppled a plucky Scotland 79-69 yesterday to secure third place on the Gold Coast.

Australia won gold, easily beating Canada 87-47 in the final.

It was some consolation for the

Tall Blacks, who were lethargic in a 88-86 semifinal loss to Canada on Saturday. New Zealand lost on a buzzer beating three, having

fought back from 21 points down late in the third quarter to almost snatch a comeback win.

Swingman Tom Abercrombie carried the scoring load, pouring in a game-high 26 points against Scotland.

A three from Scotland’s Fraser Malcolm with 1.51 remaining trimmed New Zealand’s lead to 73-65 to set up a tense finish.

New Zealand outscored Scotland 38-34 in the second half, shooting 16/32 (50 per cent) from the field.

The Tall Blacks bashed the Scots on the boards, outrebounding them 44-33 with Rob Loe hauling down 10 boards.

Mentored by seasoned Australian National Basketball League coach Rob Beveridge, the Scots put up a valiant showing against the heavily favoured Tall Blacks, matching it with them all game.

Trailing 21-19 after the first term, the Tall Blacks went on a 17-6 run to begin the second quarter as Scotland went cold on the offensive end.

After committing an alarming 26 turnovers in their semifinal loss, the Tall Blacks struggled again protecting the basketball.

They turned the ball over 12 times in the second half and 18 for the game.