Tatan Syuflana/AP
Tohi Smith-Milner starred as New Zealand came back to beat Jordan for the bronze medal at the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta.
The Tall Blacks have claimed a historic bronze medal at the FIBA Asia Cup after storming back to beat Jordan 83-75.
New Zealand erased a 15-point third quarter deficit to earn their first ever podium finish at this event.
Tohi Smith-Milner was the hero, scoring 25 points on 7/10 shooting from outside, including 14 points in a pivotal fourth quarter flurry.
He was supported by Taki Fahrensohn with 19 points, Sam Timmins with 12 points and five rebounds, Taylor Britt with eight points and seven assists, Jordan Hunt with seven and 10, and Flynn Cameron with seven and seven.
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In the final, Australia held on to beat Lebanon 75-73.
But this was a performance to remember from the Tall Blacks.
The first quarter opened with both teams matching each other bucket for bucket; Smith-Milner hitting a triple and then Fahrensohn flushing home a one-handed dunk on the break.
While Timmins quietly operated in the paint with a pair of baskets, Jordan’s outside shooting began to make waves – shooting 4/4 from downtown in the first five minutes. That was good enough to give Jordan the early advantage, with Smith-Milner’s triple cutting their lead to 22-20 at the end of the first period.
Both teams went cold in the second quarter, with Fahrensohn’s layup the first basket for either side after almost four minutes of play. Jordan’s lead grew through some hot shooting from outside, with a pair of threes building their advantage to 10 points at halftime. The Kiwi big men were noticeably struggling to defend Jordan’s quicker guards.
Tatan Syuflana/AP
New Zealand celebrate their victory over Jordan for third place at the FIBA Asia Cup 2022 basketball tournament in Jakarta.
Jordan’s 42-32 halftime lead was built around both their great shooting and solid defence; the latter holding New Zealand to 4-19 (21%) shooting from beyond the arc and 38% overall.
New Zealand tried to chip away at Jordan’s lead in the third but still trailed 64-59.
The fourth quarter belonged to Smith-Milner, who put in a performance for the ages despite being saddled with four fouls for much of the period.
After a Smith-Milner three and a pair of buckets from Fahrensohn helped to tie the game at 66-all, the captain draining a triple on three consecutive possessions over 90 seconds, fuelling a personal 9-0 run to give New Zealand a 75-68 lead with 4 minutes to play.
Fahrensohn followed with a baseline dunk, and New Zealand held on over the last four minutes – despite some shaky free throw shooting down the stretch.
AT A GLANCE
New Zealand 96 (Tohi Smith-Milner 25, Taki Fahrensohn 19, Sam Timmins 12) Jordan 85 (Amin Abu Hawwas 19, Hashem Abbaas 19, Zaid Abbas 15)
Quarter scores: 20-22, 32-40, 59-64, 83-75.