NEW Zealand completed a sweep of its games in the fourth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers after routing Syria, 126-74, on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Tall Blacks improved to 6-2 win-loss in Group E with the wire-to-wire victory against Syria, which occupies the bottom of the standings with a 2-6 mark.
Two days after their hard-earned overtime win over Iran, 93-91, last Friday, the Tall Blacks cruised to victory this time with the 52-point margin.
Sam Mennenga made full use of New Zealand’s size advantage with 20 points and five rebounds in just 17 minutes of action, mostly with the result of the game already settled.
New Zealand outscored Syria, 34-12, in the third quarter to pull away for good.
“We started off great at the start of the game. We probably took the foot off the pedal, in some respects,” New Zealand coach Judd Flavell said. “Syria did a good job of making it a ballgame in the second half. I challenged the group at halftime, what can we do in this third quarter to really put a stamp on our game.”
Corey Webster topscored for the Tall Blacks with 22 points, and Flynn Cameron had 21 points in the win.
Syria’s naturalized player James Justice was the only double-digit scorer for his team with 22 points.
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