World Cup heartbreak for New Zealand, South Sudan

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Losses in the final round of group games have seen New Zealand and South Sudan miss out on the World Cup last 16.

New Zealand and South Sudan’s hopes of winning the FIBA World Cup are officially over, following Wednesday night’s results.

Defeats to Greece and Serbia respectively ensured both nations finished third in their group and missed out on a place in the final 16.

New Zealand entered its clash with Greece knowing only a win would keep them in the fight. Whoever won would progress, and the dream would be over for whoever lost.

The Tall Blacks shot out to a convincing 11-point half-time lead to keep the dream alive, but scored just 11 points in the third quarter to allow Greece back into the contest.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">???????? through to the Second Round on top of their groups ??<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinForAll?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinForAll</a> <a href="https://t.co/JM5jgPkMP5">pic.twitter.com/JM5jgPkMP5</a></p>— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 ? (@FIBAWC) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAWC/status/1696913405003878653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Greece then wrestled the momentum away from New Zealand in the fourth quarter and outscored them by a further 13 points to take home a nine-point win.

NBL24 stars Shea Ili and Reuben Te Rangi tried to drag their nation over the line. Ili scored a game-high 27 points and had eight assists, while Te Rangi finished with 19 points.

Returning Breaker Finn Delany pulled in 14 rebounds, but outside of the efforts of Ili and Te Rangi, the Tall Blacks shot just 36 per cent from the field.

Five-time Greek Basketball League champion Ioannis Papapetrou led the way for Greece with 27 points, while Giannoulis Larentzakis added 20 of his own.

The USA and Greece qualified from Group C.

South Sudan kept pace with world powerhouse Serbia for the bulk of their clash, but a 14-point final quarter deficit blew out to a 32-point defeat and ensured Serbia finished the first group stage on top of Group B.

Star guard Carlik Jones was thoroughly blanketed by the Serbian defence for the entire game, but Dut Jok Kacuol and Nuni Omot picked up the scoring slack.

Kacuol finished the game with a team-high 21 points, while Omot added 17.

Tasmania big Majok Deng scored 10 points, while Sunday Dech was tasked with defending Atlanta wing Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Serbia and Puerto Rico qualified from their group.

New Zealand will now face Egypt and Mexico in the next stage of competition. South Sudan will play Angola and the Philippines.