New Zealand have scored their second upset win in as many days, downing Angola 73-70 to advance to the final of the Stankovic Cup international men's basketball tournament in Guangzhou, China.
The Tall Blacks now play Russia in the decider tomorrow morning (NZT) when the winners will pocket $US30,000.
Having started the tournament with a loss to Russia, New Zealand turned their fortunes around yesterday by beating China and they maintained that form today.
The first two quarters against the 13th ranked African champions almost went basket for basket as both teams never allowed the other to get away with too much.
Although the Tall Blacks' shooting was off the mark the scores were tied at 22-22 after the first quarter and again at 34-34 by halftime as their defence kept them in the game.
The Tall Blacks who came out cold after the break as the Angolans shot out to a 44-36 lead after Carlos Morais dropped three three-pointers in succession.
Tall Black Casey Frank said Morais was a little difficult to stop at times.
"He got really hot and hit three threes and got on a run, but our defence came through to create good offence," Frank said.
An individual star for the Tall Blacks was Mika Vukona, who threw himself into the game and was a presence at both ends of the court.
"Mika really inspired us in the second half. He isn't going to show up on the stats sheets so much but he was everywhere and totally put his body on the line," said Frank, who also praised Tom Abercrombie.
"Tom's defence was unbelievable. He made it difficult for at both ends of the court."
Topping the overall scoring for the Tall Blacks was once again Kirk Penney with 17 points, including four three-pointers in the second spell, while Abercrombie finished with 14. For Angola, Morais contributed a game-high 22.
After being down 51-57 going into the final quarter and then clawing their way to a 70-65 lead New Zealand managed two pressure free throws from Lindsay Tait to set themselves up for the win and a clash with Russia.
"We weren't too far off Russia the first time we played them. We understand their personnel now a bit better and it's not often you get a chance to gain some payback in international basketball. We've got that opportunity now," Frank said.
New Zealand 73 (Kirk Penney 17, Tom Abercrombie 14, Lindsay Tait 9) Angola 70 (Carlos Morais 22, Felizardo Ambrosio 13, Joaquim Gomes 13). Halftime: 34-34.
