The Tall Blacks needed every bit of their experience to survive a marathon in Auckland on Friday night, holding off the Philippines 106 to 102 after two periods of overtime to book their place in the second round of qualifying for the 2027 Basketball World Cup.
Spark Arena was still buzzing well after the final buzzer, and for good reason. For long stretches it looked as though the visitors would walk out of Auckland with the win. New Zealand trailed 77 to 70 with under five minutes left in regulation and needed a late surge just to force the extra time that eventually decided it.
Tai Webster dragged his side back into the contest with back to back baskets that nudged New Zealand in front at 81 to 79, only for the Philippines guard Juan Gomez de Liano to answer with a three pointer that levelled the scores at 83 apiece and sent the game to overtime.
The first extra period brought more of the same. The Philippines pushed out to a 100 to 96 lead with three minutes to play and looked the more likely side, but the Tall Blacks refused to fold. Sam Mennenga scored the go ahead basket to put New Zealand ahead 104 to 102, and with the visitors’ key men fouling out one by one, Shea Ili and Ngatai closed it out from the free throw line.
Reuben Te Rangi top scored for the hosts with 22 points, while Ili added 21 points and six assists in a composed display running the offence. Sam Waardenburg was a force in the paint with 16 points, 10 rebounds and two steals, and Mennenga chipped in 13 points and six rebounds along with the bucket that swung the result. Webster finished with 12 points before fouling out in the first overtime.
The Philippines will feel they let this one slip. Kevin Quiambao and Gomez de Liano both finished with 23 points, Dwight Ramos added 18 and Carl Tamayo 17, but the visitors ran out of bodies late as the physical toll of two overtime periods caught up with them. Their naturalised star Justin Brownlee managed just five points before he too fouled out.
New Zealand head coach Judd Flavell said his side had done its homework on the Philippines’ main threat and made the most of the space that opened up elsewhere. “We had objectives that we had to do. Obviously, Justin Brownlee is their focal point offensively. We did a good job on him, but it opened up a lot of things for the others,” Flavell told FIBA after the match.
He put the win down to the calm heads in his squad when the game was there to be won or lost. “We got an experienced group, and it’s the experience that got the job done down the stretch,” he said.
Philippines coach Tim Cone was left to reflect on a night that got away from his team despite everything they threw at it. “It would have been nice to come down here and steal a game; that would have been special,” Cone said. He noted that his players had “expended an incredible amount of energy” over the two overtime periods.
The result extends the Tall Blacks’ recent dominance over the Philippines to four straight wins, and more importantly it secures their spot in the second round of the Asian qualifying campaign for the 2027 World Cup, which will be held in Qatar. New Zealand move through alongside Australia, who have set the pace in the region, and the Philippines, who advanced despite the loss.
The qualifying format is a long haul rather than a sprint. FIBA runs six windows spread over 15 months from late 2025 through to early 2027, with 80 nations across Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe chasing places at the finals. Teams play home and away against their group rivals, which is why New Zealand and the Philippines have now met several times in a short space, and the Tall Blacks have come out on top each time.
For a programme that has spent years fighting for attention against rugby, cricket and league, nights like this matter. The Tall Blacks have qualified for the World Cup before, and this group clearly believes it can get there again. Beating a well drilled and deep Philippines side twice inside a fortnight, the second time the hard way, is exactly the kind of result that builds that belief.
The win keeps New Zealand firmly on track. Attention now turns to the next windows and the tougher tests to come in the second round, where the margin for error narrows and the quality of opposition rises. On this evidence, the Tall Blacks will not be an easy night for anyone.
You can read the full match report at FIBA and coverage of the qualifying campaign at RNZ Sport.
What did you make of the Tall Blacks’ double overtime win? Were you at Spark Arena or watching from home? Let us know in the comments below.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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