Tall Blacks edge out Lebanon

The Tall Blacks could hardly make a bucket all night, but in the end it mattered not as they scrambled to a seventh straight World Cup qualifying victory in Rotorua last night on the back of a standout defensive effort.

It was not pretty. In fact it was downright ugly. But all that mattered to coach Paul Henare was his side managed to grind out a 63-60 victory over previous group co-leaders Lebanon to take a further stride towards one of the top qualifying spots out of Asia for next year’s World Cup in China.

The New Zealand men, now 7-1, have taken a firm grip on top spot in Group E of the second stage of qualifying, with Lebanon slipping back to 6-2.

On the back of a massive travel toll undertaken by both sides who played games in the Middle East last Friday, this was never going to be a free-flowing or high-quality affair.

But in the end it was the Tall Blacks who made the clutch free-throws down the stretch and the visitors who came up short against some outstanding home defence with the game on the line.

The New Zealanders trailed for most of the final period, but got back to within a point (59-60) just inside the final minute on a Rob Loe layin, and then iced the contest when Shea Ili made two clutch free-throws with 20 seconds left, and Reuben Te Rangi did likewise with not much more than 5 seconds on the clock.

Ili led the Tall Blacks in scoring with 14 points, including those two clutch free-throws late that heaped all the pressure back on the visitors. He was a relatively red-hot 5 of 11 from the floor.