Mixed results

The Junior Tall Blacks have begun their under-19 World Cup basketball build up with mixed success at the Atlas Invitational Series in China. It’s the first in a three-tournament lead-up series before the team heads to Cairo for the under-19 World Cup on July 1-9. They opened with an 81-69 loss to a United States Select team made up of professional-level players with an average age of 26 before dominating a China under-17 team 67-22 then losing 65-61 to a strong under-23 Lithuania side.