Tall Blacks taught another lesson as Australian Boomers clinch Trans-Tasman series

Good, but not good enough. Judd Flavell’s Tall Blacks flirted with a final quarter comeback against the Boomers on Friday night, behind the one-two scoring punch of Taylor Britt and Shea Ili, but once again were a too-distant second to their trans-Tasman rivals. The Boomers’ 25-point victory, on the back of Wednesday’s 80-68 triumph in Adelaide, handed the Aussies the inaugural Trans-Tasman Throwdown series, with still Sunday’s finale in Hamilton to come. Their hard-nosed defence unsettled the New Zealanders at the UniSC Arena on the Sunshine Coast, and they were led to a never-in-doubt victory by an active 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists from Xavier Cooks (203-F-1995, college: Winthrop). The New Zealanders made a game of it with a standout third quarter from Britt, who poured in a dozen points in the period to lead his team back from 14 down at the half, to within reach, at 60-50, heading into the final term. Four quick points from Ili in the final quarter got the Tall Blacks to within six (62-56) at the 8:17 mark, before the Boomers settled, started forcing turnovers and got their score ticking over with their ability to turn those into quick points. Within two minutes the Aussies had the margin out by double-digits, and from there it was all too easy as Dean Vickerman’s men cruised to another impressive victory over their Kiwi rivals. Britt and Ili were very much the stars of the show for the Tall Blacks, combining for 37 points in an impressive effort from the point guards. Britt finished with 19 points, at a super-efficient 8 of-11 clip, 5 boards and 3 dimes, while making all three of his attempts from deep, as he continues to improve his game at the top level. Ili was his committed and furious self, ducking and diving for 18 points, on 6-of-13 shooting, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Late callup Finn Delany (200-PF-1995, college: SW Baptist) added 8 points (on 3-of-9 shooting) and 5 turnovers in a mixed effort on his return to the team, Cooks had plenty of support, with Todd Blanchfield (198-F/G-1991) (11 points, 6 rebounds) and Angus Glover (192-G-1998) (10 points, 3 dimes) the most prominent, but with Mitch Norton (184-PG-1993), Dejan Vasiljevic (190-G-1997, college: Miami, FL), Owen Foxwell (188-G-2003), Harry Wessels (216-C-2002) and Keli Leaupepe (198-F-2000, college: LMU) all having their moments. Flavell would have been disappointed with another poor shooting night – 36% overall and just 25 from beyond the arc – as he would have 18 turnovers, and a 21-4 edge to the Australians in points off those giveaways. The Aussies won all the hustle categories – 18-12 in offensive boards, 11-4 in steals and 40-22 in points in the paint – created the better shots and thoroughly deserved a dominant victory that was a step up on Wednesday. The New Zealanders simply never hit enough shots to stick with the talented Aussies through the first two quarters, making just three buckets in the first period and seven in the second as they trailed out of the blocks, by eight (18-10) at the first break, and by 14 (42-28) at the major break. Australia’s ramped-up defence unsettled Flavell’s men early, and they never caught an offensive rhythm through the first two periods as they shot just 32% from the floor and 23 from beyond the arc, and relied heavily on Ili’s eight first-half points and seven from Taylor Britt. The ship steadied somewhat in a 22-18 third period, but, like a couple of nights earlier, the Tall Blacks ran out of puff when the game went on the line.
Courtesy of: stuff.co.nz