Victorious Junior Tall Blacks arrive home at 5pm today

The JTBs will arrive at Auckland airport at 5pm on Sunday December 10th on Air New Zealand flight NZ 53 from Nadi International, Fiji

Junior Tall Blacks head coach Daryl Cartwright and players will be available for interview at Auckland airport today upon their return from Fiji.

New Zealand has finally done it.

After a thrilling 57-51 gold medal match victory over Australia, New Zealand has qualified for the FIBA U19 World Championships.

The Championships will be held in Cairo, Egypt, July 1-9, 2017

The Kiwis will be playing in their second FIBA U19 World Champs, after hosting the event in 2009, but this marks the first time theyve officially qualified, in a landmark day for New Zealand basketball.

Furthermore, New Zealands win means itll be the first time Australia has failed to qualify for the tournament.

In a back and fourth affair, New Zealand captain Quinn Clinton came up big in the clutch. With his squad trailing by one point with 40 seconds remaining, Clinton would bank in a three-pointer while getting fouled, a shot that gave the Kiwis a lead they wouldnt relinquish. He failed to convert the four-point play, but Taane Samuels put-back was the nail in the coffin for Australia.

Basketball New Zealand Chief Executive Iain Potter described the victory as, "A great achievement by the team and the coaching staff and an historic moment for New Zealand basketball. The win once again highlights the enormous amount of talent that we have emerging from our national and local development programmes."

Final Score; Junior Tall Blacks 57 Australia 51

Leading scorers - Clinton 14, Samuel 11, Waardenburg 11 + 12 rebounds.

More information:

Please visit http://www.fiba.com/oceania/u18/2016

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from Basketball New Zealand