Guard Brook Ruscoe had his third 20-plus point game of the tournament, scoring a game-high 20 points (7/14 FG, 4/6 3pt, 2/2 FT), with four rebounds and three assists in 34 minutes as the Kiwis outlasted the pesky Angolans for their second straight win.

“To go out and win two in a row is always nice. It’s good to finish on a winning note,” said Junior Tall Blacks captain Dion Prewster, who had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Angola had sensed an upset when they closed within three points with a little under four minutes remaining after a mini 7-0 run.

But Ruscoe and Co quickly slammed the door shut.

Ruscoe delievered assists as Prewster answered with a three from the wing, and centre Rob Loe, who finished with 15 points, dropped in a basket, before point guard Logan van Beek picked off a pass for a breakaway lay-up to stretch the lead back out to double digits.

Whenever Angola made a charge, the JTBs, buoyed by a loud home crowd, were able to score key baskets to keep them at arm’s reach. The Angolans also closed to four points with 7:16 left but Loe completed a three-point play and Ruscoe hit one of his four treys to move clear.

The JTBs were sloppy in the third quarter, scoring just 12 points as their offence stalled in the face of Angola’s zone. Luckily, Angola were even worse, hitting on only 5-of-19 of their field-goal attempts. A three from Richie Edwards at the third-quarter buzzer put the JTBs out by 10 points.

New Zealand led by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter but saw the Angolans close to within six points at one stage. Ruscoe led the Kiwis with 12 points at the half.

Loe, who also had nine rebounds and four steals, took an elbow to the right eye in the first minute of the game, only playing 2:35 in the first period but still managing five points.

While Angola went 0-for-14 on three-point attempts, New Zealand hit nine, their most of the tournament, and evened up the rebounding battle 40-40, the first time they had not been out-rebounded in five games.

For Angola, Miguel Kiala posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Eduardo Ferreira finished with 15 points.

The Kiwis finished the tournament 2-3, with group D losses to Argentina (66-64), Croatia (79-72) and Kazakhstan (90-83) and wins over Syria (93-75) and Angola (62-54).

“I think we did really well,” Prewster said. “We didn’t let ourselves down. We did want to do better but we did play some good basketball. Well, the best we could anyway. We just got a little unlucky.

“And we’ve got a lot of respect from other basketball playing nations and that we should be here. People have been quite surprised by the way that we’ve played, so it’s always nice to hear people saying that.”

The Junior Tall Blacks head their separate ways on Wednesday, with Ruscoe, Prewster and Loe joining the Tall Blacks in camp on Auckland’s North Shore next Tuesday.

FIBA U19 World Championship

Tuesday, July 7

13th-14th Classification

New Zealand Junior Tall Blacks 62 (Brook Ruscoe 20, Rob Loe 15, Dion Prewster 10) Angola 54 (Miguel Kiala 16, Eduardo Ferreira 15)
1Q: 15-10
HT: 31-21 (16-11)
3Q: 43-33 (12-12)
FT: 62-54 (19-21)