Penney new shooting star
The Press;
It rained Penneys from Kirk in
The victory clinched a 4-1 Burger King series
success and gave the Tall Blacks the perfect platform from which to build for
their world championship campaign at
Shooting standout of the night was former
Penney's performance bettered his 31-point game in New Plymouth's game
three.
"The other guys distributed the ball so well. Mark (Dickel)
runs the floor and great execution of the offence gets us open for shots,"
Penney said.
Coach Tab Baldwin said the match was a tough one for his team with the
series being dead. But he felt the second spell, where the Tall Blacks took
control, should have reflected how they played the game throughout.
"We defended a lot better. In the second half we shot 53 per cent and
held them to 38 per cent."
Penney rained in six three-pointers to maintain the Tall Blacks scoring
momentum as they gradually gained ascendancy from the tiring visitor.
Penney's performance equalled the highest score of
the series which he shared with Phill Jones, who
landed 34 in New Plymouth. Jones did not play last night, resting a knee injury
along with Kenny Stone and Ed Book.
While Penney caught the eye he had plenty of solid support.
Rob Hickey worked powerfully around the hoop, while Damon Rampton displayed outstanding athleticism around the
boards, grasping five offensive rebounds.
In contrast, the Tall Blacks were full of running and their superior foot
speed in the latter stages proved telling.
Coach Baldwin now has to trim his 15-man squad to 12 for the world
tournament.
However, the Tall Blacks' superior pattern play created some holes in the
Hungarian defence and Penney and Lewis did not need
any second chances.
Result: New Zealand 110 (Kirk Penney 34, Terrence Lewis 20, Rob Hickey 14) bt Hungary 88 (Erno Sitku 24, Kornel David 17, Marton Bader 17, Gregely Fodor
13, Balazs Simon 10). HT: 55-54.