The Tall Blacks’ Olympic dream ended in Venezuela this morning, but not before a gutsy show of defiance that saw them defeat Angola 68-64.

And in the process, teenager Tai Webster confirmed the promise that may well see the national men’s team rise from the ashes of what has been a frustrating 2012 campaign.

Webster led all scorers with 21 points that included five three-pointers and provided the offensive spark that finally seemed capable of achieving their goal.

After losing heavily to Macedonia yesterday, New Zealand needed to beat their African rivals by 27 points to advance to the quarterfinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Caracas.

If they’d been slow out of the blocks against the European upstarts, the Kiwi remedied the situation in their second outing of the competition, running up seven points – including a three from Webster (17) – before their rivals got on the board.

Forward Rob Loe chimed in with another long-distance bucket later in the period as the lead grew to eight, but Angola got back in contention when two fouls from veteran Casey Frank – one an unsportsmanlike – gifted them six quick points.

New Zealand were again in foul trouble – captain Mika Vukona and Frank had two in the opening quarter and Angola shot 8/10 from the free-throw line to trail just 12-14 at the first break.

But Webster had found his range – he added two more treys soon after the resumption and a third midway through the period brought up a double-figure advantage. When Leon Henry also joined the party, the Tall Blacks seemed to have finally found some offensive flow.

The lead reached 18 points and stood at 40-26 by halftime, and defensively, the Kiwis had held their opponents to 6/27 from the field. Suddenly, the huge points differential didn’t look so insurmountable.

The dream was still alive.

But sustaining such dominance at this level isn’t easy and Angola scored the first six points out of the break to sneak within singlefigures again. They then scored eight more in a row, including treys to Carlos Morais and Armando Costa, to close within three.

As the adversaries entered the home stretch, New Zealand still clung to a 58-52 edge and stretched it a little further when Loe hit consecutive baskets, the first from the arc.

But, by now, they were starting to make too many errors – fouls, turnovers and conceded offensive rebounds – and the Angolans were pressing hard. When Eduardo Mingas hit a pair of freebies with 3m 28s on the clock, capping a six-point run, they were back within a shot of the lead.

But point guard Lindsay Tait stroked a three-pointer – his first points of the encounter – added another basket and snatched a crucial offensive board to keep the game safe. The result meant Group D finished in a three-way tie, but the Kiwis’ 22-point loss in their opener was never going to help them advance.

It was a grim defensive struggle – the Tall Blacks shot just 35% from the field, but restricted their opponents to 32% – where New Zealand’s 12/35 from afar proved a difference maker. Led by Mingas’ 17 points/10 rebounds, Angola used their athleticism to secure 20 offensive boards, but were probably happy enough to secure their path into the next stage.

FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Caracas, Venezuela
New Zealand 68 (Webster 21, Henry 15, Loe 13) Angola 64 (Mingas 17, Cipriano 11)
Q1 14-12
HT 40-26 (26-14)
Q3 58-52 (18-26)
FT 68-64 (10-12)

Box Score

Game 1

The Tall Blacks have suffered a setback in their bid for late inclusion in the New Zealand Olympic team, falling 62-84 to Macedonia in their opening pool game of a qualifying tournament in Venezuela.

Without several of their leading players, the Kiwi men suffered an early blow when captain Mika Vukona and fellow forward Leon Henry both gathered quick fouls and headed for the bench.

Macedonia scored the first 12 points of the contest and New Zealand struggled to make any headway into that lead for the rest of the encounter.

“Once they got on that roll, it gave them a lot of confidence,” said veteran forward Casey Frank. “Once an experienced team like them gets that confidence, it’s very difficult to get back into the game.”

Down 11-26 after the opening quarter, they whittled away at Macedonia’s advantage over the next two periods and finally reduced the deficit to single figures entering the final stretch.

But the Europeans answered with 12 straight points that squashed any hope of a dramatic comeback.

Centre Alex Pledger stood out for the Tall Blacks, recording a double double of 11 points/11 rebounds and leading his team’s dominance around the boards. New Zealand out-rebounded their opponents 43-27, including 13 at the offensive end.

But turnovers hurt them badly – they gave the ball away 21 times – and they shot just 35% from the field. Without the scoring punch of Kirk Penney and Tom Abercrombie – both injured – Pledger was the only Kiwi in double figures.

“In the end, our shooting let us down,” said Frank. ‘When you shoot that poorly, it’s very difficult to come away with victory.”

The Tall Blacks face Angola tomorrow – a win would create a three-way tie in their pool, but today’s big loss means they’ll struggle on points differential.

“It’s the Olympic dream,” said Frank. “We’re a bit down in the dumps right now, but we’re not going to give up on ourselves.

“At any given moment, on any given day, anything can happen. If we go out and give our best effort and play to our abilities, we can get the result we need.”

FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament
Caracas, Venezuela
Macedonia 84 (Bo McCalebb 23, Pero Antic 17, Todor Gechevski 16) New Zealand 62 (Alex Pledger 11)
Q1 26-11
HT 44-31 (18-20)
Q3 60-48 (16-17)
FT 84-62 (24-14)

Box Score