Basketball: Big guns fire on world champs opening day

Richie Edwards of New Zealand lays up the ball under pressure from Andres Landoni of Argentina. Photo / Getty Images

The big teams flexed their muscles on the first day of the world under-19 men's basketball championship in Auckland today.

The United States, Spain, France, Greece and Croatia picked up dominant wins, while Australia, Argentina and Puerto Rico also tasted success.

Hosts New Zealand nearly caused the upset of the opening round before going down 66-64 to the highly-fancied Argentina in a thrilling group D match.

The Junior Tall Blacks led for much of an exciting match before the South American champions inched ahead in the fourth quarter to spoil the home town party.

Puerto Rico produced an outstanding comeback after trailing Lithuania by nine points at halftime in their group A fixture.

Led by 18 points each to Isaac Sosa and Kevin Young, they bounced back to prevail 80-73.

Australia also had to work hard to beat Canada 88-77, with 25 points from Cody Ellis helping them keep the Canadians at bay through a tense second half.

The other group C match was a low-scoring affair with the Spanish defence to the fore in a 79-53 defeat of Syria.

It was the opposite in group B, where the United States and France racked up three figures in lop-sided contests.

The US crushed Iran 106-55, with Tyshawn Taylor contributing 13 points to head a fine team effort while France overwhelmed Egypt 102-56.

Croatia were convincing group A winners over Kazakhstan, with Toni Prostran sinking 23 points in their 104-74 triumph while Greece clobbered Angola 101-58.

- NZPA