Penney new shooting star
The Press; Christchurch, New Zealand; Jul 13, 2002; LONGLEY, Geoff;

It rained Penneys from Kirk in Christchurch last night as the Tall Blacks, inspired by a 34-point performance from the New Zealand guard, beat Hungary 110-88 in their fifth and final basketball test.

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 Indianapolis next month.

Shooting standout of the night was former North Harbour product Penney who, after three years at the University of Wisconsin, has developed into a polished professional.

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. Canterbury's Terrence Lewis, who had sat out the past three matches, turned on a classy shooting display in front of a record 4300 crowd with four three-pointers in his 20-point tally.

Rob Hickey worked powerfully around the hoop, while Damon Rampton displayed outstanding athleticism around the boards, grasping five offensive rebounds.

Hungary had kept the match close for the first three quarters, but using just seven players began to tell as it wilted over the closing stages.

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.

Hungary had been given a blazing start by captain Erno Sitku, who hit three three-pointers among 13 first- quarter points as the visitor captured a 32-27 quarter-time lead.

However, the Tall Blacks' superior pattern play created some holes in the Hungarian defence and Penney and Lewis did not need any second chances.

Hungary's quartet of tall timber toiled valiantly, but the effect of limited playing resources and the five game series in eight days took its toll.

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.