The Tall Blacks have thrashed Syria 107-66 in their latest qualifying match for the basketball World Cup in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday (NZ time).
Guard Shea Ili, along with forwards Jordan Ngatai and Isaac Fotu shared a game-high 16 points, while Tai Webster added 15 points in the win which sees New Zealand move to the top of Group E in the Asia conference.
Omar Cheikh Ali led the way for Syria with 16 points, while Tarek Aljabi had 15.
Despite getting off to a slow start, the Tall Blacks were largely untroubled during the 41-point win which allowed coach Paul Henare to use all 12 of his players. Ili played the most minutes with 22, while everyone else played at least ten minutes.
The Tall Blacks shot 50 percent (16-of-32) on three-point attempts and 53.4 percent from the field as they claimed their sixth consultative win.
Next up for the Tall Blacks is long-haul flights via Doha and Singapore to get back to New Zealand to face Lebanon on Monday night in Rotorua.
The Tall Blacks will have less than 48 hours to prepare for the match against Lebanon once landing in New Zealand, but Henare insists the team is already well prepared for the upcoming game.
"The biggest challenge is getting back in a good space mentally and physically," Henare said.
"There has been a lot of preparation and planning for the trip home, it is not perfect, but we will make the best of what we have.
"Lebanon will be a step up. They are a good basketball team. We will watch them on TV for a bit before we head to the airport, it will be good for the guys to get eyes on them and get familiar with them.
"We have done plenty of preparation behind the scenes, we will share that with the boys and move on quickly to that game now."
Newshub.
