Basketball: Tall Blacks down Lithuania for clean sweep

New Zealand beat Lithuania 84-76 to win a four-nation men's basketball tournament in China today (NZ time).

With the win, the Tall Blacks completed a sweep of games at the Shuang Feng Cup tournament in Harbin, the second leg of their Chinese tour.

Sharpshooter Phill Jones again led the way with 20 points as the Tall Blacks shot the lights out from long range for the second night in a row.

"I'm real proud of you guys," coach Tab Baldwin told his players. "We've made up a lot of ground from where we were in Jinjiang last week."

The win followed the 21-point thrashing New Zealand handed hosts China the previous night and while there were some tense moments especially in the final quarter, the Tall Blacks showed poise to win.

Baldwin expressed mild surprise at how quickly his team's fortunes had turned and how they were able to produce another quality performance so soon after the Chinese game.

The Tall Blacks started out where they left off the night before to gain the upper hand.

Lithuania clawed their way back after being 15-26 down after the opening quarter, to make it 47-40 at halftime.

New Zealand went ahead by 14 heading into the final quarter, but there were signs of distress. Baldwin was forced to burn an early timeout as they struggled against the Lithuanian zone.

Craig Bradshaw then produced what was possibly the decisive outburst of the night scoring eight points that saw the lead balloon by 18.

Lithuania came back with a scoring run that got them within six points in the final minute but the Tall Blacks ran down the clock with Jones converting a pair of free throws for good measure.

"Tonight, our rebounding improved -- we allowed them only seven offensive boards -- and it's getting better with every game, said Baldwin. "And it's not often we win a tournament."

The Tall Blacks will return to New Zealand for a few days off before regrouping next weekend to prepare for their next challenge -- the four-nation tournament in Australia.

Tall Blacks 84 (Phill Jones 20, Craig Bradshaw 12, Pero Cameron 11, Casey Frank 10) Lithuania 76 (Simonas Serapinas 16, Mindaugas Lukauskis, Ginevicius Vidas and Povilas Cukinas 14) Quarter 26-15 Halftime 47-40 (21-25) Threequarter 71-57 (24-17) Fulltime 84-76 (13-19)

- NZPA