View photosKEY POINTS:
Australia 79
New Zealand 67
New Zealand have a mountain to scale in the Oceania Olympic basketball qualifying series after they were outplayed by Australia in game one last night.
Little over a year after upsetting the Boomers with a series-winning effort at Vodafone Arena, a disappointing Tall
Blacks nowhere near replicated their Melbourne magic when it counted before a crowd of 6000.
They are now tasked with the unprecedented feat of back-to-back wins on Australian soil in Sydney tomorrow and Brisbane on Friday to book an early place in Beijing next year.
The losers face a nightmare repechage tournament next year against European and South American powerhouses.
Last night, after a fast Tall Blacks start, the Boomers led 43-37 at halftime and gradually pulled away in the third quarter to hold a handy 59-46 lead at the end of that period.
Three-point shooting was one of the Tall Blacks' major problems as they hit just nine of 27 for 33 per cent to the Boomers' 45 per cent.
Guard Kirk Penney again led the way for his side with 20 points but had precious little backup.
The Boomers, ranked 10th in the world, were led by the imposing presence of CSKA Moscow giant David Andersen, who had 20 points.
The visitors, ranked 12th, were backing up from a 40-hour journey from Croatia, via Frankfurt and Singapore, that only ended here on Friday.
In their buildup, they played 14 games in 26 days, taking in a home series against Venezuela and tournaments in China and Europe.
There was a pre-match hiccup when NZ's anthem singer froze mid-verse and benchman Paora Winitana stepped in for some supportive words before she completed a second attempt after an agonising silence.
At haka time the Tall Blacks didn't forget their lines and delivered a stirring rendition, nearly nose to nose with their opponents.
It spilled into the opening stanzas as two slick Pero Cameron assists shot them out to an 11-5 lead.
The Boomers soon found their feet to be up 18-16 lead at the first break.
Cameron created some more chances and with Penney and Phill Jones chiming in, the Tall Blacks rushed to a 31-25 lead early in the second quarter.
But there were early concerns for coach Nenad Vucinic, with key guard Mark Dickel - returning from surgery - showing moments of brilliance but still short of full fitness, while fellow playmaker Paul Henare racked up three fouls early in the second quarter.
The more accurate Boomers stormed back to take a six-point lead at halftime after a Dickel pass was picked off, then he and Penney both crashed to the floor at their defensive end to allow two easy baskets.
Three-pointers from Dickel and Cameron after the break narrowed the gap but NZ continued to run cold from long range as the Boomers held a handy buffer through the third period.
They took a 13-point lead into the final 10 minutes after the Boomers' teenage guard Patrick Mills nailed a three-pointer then darted clear for a layup.
- NZPA
