ULAANBAATAR (Mongolia) - New Zealand started their redemption tour in rousing fashion following a 96-54 trouncing of Indonesia in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup 2025, Sunday at the Buyant Ukhaa Sport Complex.
Hungry for gold after a runner-up finish in 2023, the Junior Tall Blacks bucked a tepid start and went on to finish the opening chapter with a 23-11 lead, never to look back on their way to the dominant victory.
All the 11 players fielded scored at least 5 in the triumph, with Noah Duncan bannering the assault with a solid double-double performance to the tune of 15 points and 14 rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench.
Elijah Tuupo made 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor while Tawhiri Cate produced all-around numbers of 11 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and a steal to net himself an efficiency of 24 - the most in the game.
The troika was among the five on the floor that made the turnaround possible after staring at an early deficit, with Cate and Duncan helping out in the 17-2 attack toward a 21-9 lead to take control the rest of the way.
Coach Ben Sheat's charges collected a total of 79 rebounds in the W.
Gede Dio Arghya Naranatha, meanwhile, led Indonesia with 18 points in the loss. Muhamad Fakhrizal Firdaus and Benjamin Hernusi were his only support as the duo finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Also winning big in Group B were Chinese Taipei after beating the Philippines, 106-82.
Wang I-Le starred with 24 points, 5 rebounds, an assist, and 3 steals to register an efficiency of 30 as the floor general did it all in only 20 minutes of action - and without committing a single turnover.
Hsiao Cheng-Che had 13 points while Lu Shu-Wei added 10 as all but one contributed on offense in the win, with Pan Chen-Wu, Chen Hung-Yu, Wang Jia-Cheng, and Chen Guan-Jie making at least 8 points.
The crew from East Asia got off to a solid 20-10 start before pulling away wide in the middle quarters, manufacturing a total of 59 points to head into the game's final 10 minutes owning an 87-62 lead.
Gilas Youth could hardly keep up and a microcosm of their struggles was their limited sources of offense, with Prince Carino and Jeremiah Antolin the only ones in double figures with 23 and 11 points, respectively.
Interestingly, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand are set to duke it out in Gameday 2 on Monday, September 1, 16:30 local time at the MBank Arena, with the winner set to grab the solo lead in the pool.
The victorious side will also bolster their bid of booking an outright Quarter-Final berth as teams finishing no. 1 in their respective groups will advance directly to the final eight scheduled on September 5.
The Philippines and Indonesia, meanwhile, will face one another at 19:00 local time in a Southeast Asian duel.
FIBA