The Tall Blacks have won their fifth game in a row, holding off Iran 93-91 in overtime in Manila to open the second round of qualifying for the 2027 Basketball World Cup.
The game at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night was tied 80-80 at the end of regulation after Iran clawed their way back through the final quarter. Mohammad Amini scored a driving layup inside the last two minutes to level the scores and force the extra period.
Shea Ili opened overtime with a one-handed dunk, and it was fellow veteran Reuben Te Rangi who put the game beyond Iran’s reach. Te Rangi completed a three-point play with 2 minutes 44 seconds left to break the last deadlock at 87-84, then hit a three-pointer less than a minute later to push the lead out to four, as Spin.ph reported.
New Zealand still had to survive a nervous finish. Jordan Ngatai made only one of two free throws with 13 seconds on the clock, leaving Iran a chance to tie. Sam Waardenburg blocked Amini’s drive to the basket, Alireza Sharifi collected the rebound underneath, and his putback would not drop as the buzzer sounded.
Coach Judd Flavell said the match between the 25th and 26th ranked nations in the world was as tight as the rankings suggested, with the lead changing nine times.
“A real good international arm wrestle between two countries that have a lot to play,” Flavell told RNZ.
“A real physical game. You could tell by the amount of fouls that were called in that game, and the amount of points or people stepping to the free throw line.
“I’m really proud of the guys for sticking together. It could have easily tipped over but we kept our composure down to the end which was a key to the victory.”
Ili led the scoring with 24 points and six assists. Centre Sam Mennenga added 15 points and a double-double on the boards, where New Zealand had the better of the contest all night. Waardenburg finished with 11 points and Flynn Cameron scored 10. Te Rangi’s 13 came off two three-pointers from four attempts.
Iran were paced by Matin Aghajanpour with 19 points, four of them from beyond the arc, while Amini added 16 and Seyed Mahdi Jafari 14. The loss ended a three-game winning run for the side known at home as Team Melli.
The result matters more than a single win normally would, because results carry over between rounds in this qualifying system. Sixteen teams from Asia and Oceania are chasing seven places at the 2027 tournament, with host nation Qatar already through. Teams played each other home and away in four groups of four across three windows, then the top three from each group merged into two six-team pools for another six games each. Every result from the first round travels with them, which FIBA says is deliberate, so that no game in the campaign is dead.
That is why the Tall Blacks’ start to the cycle still shows up in the table. New Zealand lost their first two games back in late 2025 and have not lost since. They finished second in their first-round group behind Australia and ahead of the Philippines, sealing their spot in the second round with a double-overtime win over the Philippines in July.
After the Iran result, Group E reads Australia unbeaten at seven wins from seven, then Iran, Jordan and New Zealand all locked on five wins and two losses, with the Philippines on three wins and Syria on two. The top three from each group qualify for the World Cup, along with the better of the two fourth-placed teams. New Zealand currently sit fourth on the tiebreakers, which means the margin between a direct place and a nervous wait is a single result.
The Tall Blacks are playing this window in the Philippines rather than at home, and the reason has nothing to do with basketball. New Zealand’s government lists both Iran and Syria at its highest do-not-travel level, so FIBA decided in June that the whole group would be played as a tournament at one neutral venue in Pasay City. Basketball New Zealand chief executive Belinda Edwards told RNZ that hosting here was not realistic either.
“We just don’t have the availability of facilities at such short notice, and I think it also comes down to government funding,” Edwards said in an RNZ interview earlier this month. She added that the squad felt the loss of a home crowd. “I certainly know that the Tall Blacks team they love playing in front of home fans. So that is disappointing.”
New Zealand close out the window against Syria later today, tipping off at 2pm in Manila, which is 6pm New Zealand time. Syria sit last in the group with two wins and five losses, and FIBA has the Tall Blacks marked as the side looking to continue their hot streak. Australia play Jordan beforehand, and Iran meet the Philippines in the night game.
Two windows remain after this one, in late November and again in February, with two games for each team in each. That leaves the Tall Blacks four games to turn a good August into a seventh straight trip to the World Cup. New Zealand have made every tournament since 2002, when they finished fourth, and were 22nd at the last one in 2023.
What did you make of the win over Iran, and do you think the Tall Blacks have enough to hold their place in Group E? Leave a comment below and let us know.
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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