Tohi Smith-Milner stars as Tall Blacks storm back to claim bronze at Asia Cup – صحيفة الصوت

Pero Cameron’s ‘Baby’ Tall Blacks signed off on a successful Fiba Asia Cup tournament in Jakarta with a comeback victory and historic bronze medal that ticks a lot of boxes for the Kiwi hoops legend.

The New Zealanders clinched third place, and their first medal at the event, with an 83-75 victory over Jordan that was achieved thanks to a 25-point outburst (in 22 minutes) from skipper Tohi Smith-Milner and a 24-9 final quarter that saw the surging kiwis leave their flagging opponents in their dust.

“I’m very happy – this guy got us out of jail, so to speak,” said Cameron afterwards of a standout performance from his captain that included 7-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. “They were very different first and second halves, but our constant grind got us over the hump and got us the win.”

The Tall Blacks had looked well out of the race early on with some lethargic play at both ends of the floor enabling the Jordanians to make a fast start, leading 42-32 at halftime, and by as many as 15 in the penultimate term.

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But behind a 14-point flurry from Smith-Milner in the final stanza, the New Zealanders erased a five-point three-quarter deficit (59-64) to ease to victory. Forward Taki Fahrensohn chipped in with 19 points, nailing 7 of 17 shots and 2 of 9 from deep, Jordan Hunt had 7 points and 10 boards and big Sam Timmins added 12 points, 5 rebounds and a pair of steals for the Kiwis who shot 48% from the floor and 33 from beyond the arc.

Smith-Milner said he was “super proud” of the performance of his young team in Jakarta where their only two defeats came against eventual winners Australia and runnersup Lebanon.

“[Jordan] came out very hot shooting-wise, but, like our haka says, we weathered that storm, and no matter what happens we stick together,” he said. “A man goes down, it’s next man up.”

Cameron was rapt with the overall performance of a young development-style team that contained four debutants, a quartet still in college, and only two players (Smith-Milner and Timmins) with double-figures in international appearances. Point guard Flynn Cameron led the New Zealanders in scoring for the tournament with 13.3ppg, closely followed by Fahrensohn’s 11.7, while Davidson University forward Sam Mennenga was averaging a useful 9.8 points and 7.8 rebounds before injury removed him from the equation.

“It was a great experience, a reat challenge and a great way to grow in tournament play,” said Cameron afterwards. “The rigours of dealing with preparation is good for everybody, and then to get thrown in the deep end was great, and what it’s about at this level.

“We backed ourselves, we accepted the challenges and we met most of those challenges. We fell short against Australia (in the semifinal) but were able to pick ourselves up 24 hours later against a Jordan team who presented another challenge that we overcame late.

“There was a lot of growing and learning experiences, but [I’ve got] a nice smile right now.”

Australia won the gold medal with a 75-73 victory over Lebanon in the final behind 14 points and 8 boards from ex-NBA player Thon Maker, 12 points and 5 domes from Mitch McCarron and 8 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists from Breakers guard Will McDowell-White.

New Zealand’s next international action will come in the August World Cup qualifying window when they travel to Saudi Arabia and then host Jordan in two further games in the process.

Fiba Asia Cup: Playoff for third: 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). 1Q: 20-22, HT: 32-40; 3Q: 59-64.

Final: Australia 75 (Thon Maker 14, Mitch McCarron 12, Tyrese Proctor 10), Lebanon 73 (Wael Arakji 28, Ali Haidar 23). 1Q: 22-10. HT: 38-28; 3Q: 57-43.