The Junior Tall Blacks have defeated host nation, Switzerland, 84 to 70 in the last quarter-final of the FIBA U19 World Cup, to set up a mouth-watering semi-final matchup with international basketball powerhouses the United States.
As to be expected, Lausanne Arena was packed to the brim with proud Swiss fans, ready to cheer their young side on.
The intensity of this matchup was evident from even before the opening tip, with the Swiss U19 side forming a spearhead formation to accept the challenge of the haka, and accept it they did.
Potentially spurred on by the volume of their home fans, the Swiss started strongly thanks to their star forward Dayan Nessah, who dropped seven points in the first quarter.
Julius Halaifonua got off to a hot-start for the Junior Tall Blacks, dominant in the low block throughout the early stages of the game.
An Austin Ouko slam for the home side put an end to the first quarter, Switzerland holding a steady 23-16 lead going into the quarter break.
Back-to-back baskets from Halaifonua cut the lead to three, before Dayan Nessah re-entered the game and continued his form to stretch the Swiss lead back out to eight with just a tick under four minutes left in the second.
The Kiwi lads continued to an impressive effort to stay in the fight, as another Julius Halaifonua bucket off an offensive rebound brought the first half to a close 鈥� Junior Tall Blacks trailing by just six.
Whatever was said between Coach Mathew Lacey and players during the half time break must of been something like out of Coach Carter, as the Junior Tall Blacks came out onto the floor and sent a shockwave through Lausanne Arena.
Again, it was Georgetown big, Julius Halaifonua who scored four straight to open the third stanza. It was not too long after that Wisconsin commit, Hayden Jones, decided to completely take over the game.
Jones knocking down a sweet mid-range jumper three minutes into the quarter, the start of scoring eight straight points for the New Zealanders, as they would begin to turn it up on both ends of the floor. The stifling New Zealand defence amounting to eight Swiss turnovers in the third, allowing the Junior Tall Blacks to gain an eleven-point lead, outscoring Switzerland 29-12 in the quarter.
Jones would pick up where he left off in the third, by opening the final quarter with another bucket, before Oscar Goodman鈥檚 triple and another Hayden Jones bucket would force the Swiss into a timeout with five minutes to play, and the Kiwi鈥檚 holding a big 16-point lead.
Goodman鈥檚 triple apart of another impressive performance, the Taranaki native with a massive 13 point, 13 rebound double-double.
Despite a late push from the Swiss, cutting the lead to 11, the Junior Tall Blacks would remain firm in their ways.
Lachie Crate, who was impressive on both ends of the floor with his unwavering hustle and heart all game, added a couple of late buckets to his tally before the final buzzer sounded 鈥� the Junior Tall Blacks now top four in the world courtesy of a huge win over the host nation.
This win marks a remarkable feat for this group of young men, and a landmark win for 吃瓜51爆料网APP as a whole. The win against Switzerland will see the Junior Tall Blacks at the very least, match the feats of last year鈥檚 U17 New Zealand FIBA World Cup team, and of course, the Tall Blacks 2002 FIBA World Cup squad, both teams coming fourth at those respective tournaments.
Both teams of which, Hayden Jones, has close connection to. Playing in the New Zealand U17 team last year himself, whilst father Phill, was a member of the historic 2002 World Cup team.
鈥淚 am extremely proud of the boys. We鈥檙e all great friends, we get along really well. I鈥檓 just super proud of what we鈥檝e achieved. We鈥檙e just trying to go even further than we have right now and yeah, get that gold medal.鈥�
A proud Jones reflecting on the team鈥檚 massive second half effort in a tough battle against their Swiss counterparts.
鈥淲e came out a little flat in the first half, and then we regrouped in the half time locker and talked about what we needed to improve. And we really stepped it up in the second half, played a lot harder and rebounded. We ended up shooting the ball a lot better, but we were really good on the defensive end at it ended up getting us back into the game.鈥�
Coach Matt Lacey also incredibly proud of the effort and achievements of his talented young side.
鈥淪uper proud. Three years in the making for this group. Some super talented guys that are going to be going off to different parts of the world after this, but yanno, there鈥檚 nothing quite like playing for your country and playing together, and tonight we showed that.鈥�
The Junior Tall Blacks will take on the United States tomorrow morning (6am NZT) to advance through to the final of the FIBA U19 World Cup.
Junior Tall Blacks 84 (Jones 23 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast, 4 blk, Halaifonua 17 pts, 8 reb, Goodman 13 pts, 13 reb) defeat Switzerland 70 (Nessah 19 pts, 10 reb, Njock 17 pts).
Junior Tall Blacks results at the FIBA U19 World Cup
POOL PLAY
v Argentina, W 77-72
v Mali, W 73-50
v Serbia, L 97-103
ROUND OF 16
v China, W 99-86
QUARTER FINAL
v Switzerland, W 84-70
SEMI FINAL
v USA, Sunday 6th July, 6am (NZT)
