THE NEW Zealand Junior Tall Blacks have claimed their first ever FIBA Under-17 Oceania Cup title, upsetting the tournament favourite Australian Crocs in a 20-point win in the Gold Medal Match on Saturday.

It was a rematch of the quarter finals earlier in the week, during which the Crocs were able to overcome a 19-point deficit to claim a terrific comeback win and spoil what was still a strong performance from the Junior Tall Blacks.

However, the Kiwis were able to exact their revenge when it mattered most, proving dominant in the decider in Samoa and cruising home to an 82-62 win to take home the gold medal and stun the previously unbeaten Aussies.

It was a tight start to the contest in the opening minutes, with the Junior Tall Blacks showing the Aussies that the Crocs will be meeting their match on the big stage after some comfortable wins. At the end of the first quarter, it was New Zealand leading by one point and ensuring they are up for the fight, as they did in the quarter final.

The action continued to be of a back and forth nature in the second frame, and the margin remained the same at the main break. The demons of surrendering a massive lead a few days earlier would have been prominent in New Zealand’s mind, and the Junior Tall Blacks would have been eager to ensure history did not repeat.

The Junior Tall Blacks began to assert their dominance in the third quarter, nailing some timely jumpshots while also continuing to find ascendancy scoring inside, which was the blueprint to their massive lead in the previous encounter between the two sides. At the end of three quarters, the Crocs trailed by seven points, and New Zealand would have been desperate to not give up another big lead with the stakes even higher this time.

Although the Aussies made one final push to try and complete yet another comeback, the Junior Tall Blacks were not going to make the same mistake twice in a row, instead putting the foot down in the closing minutes of the match. New Zealand finished the contest on a blistering 11-0 run to cap off a terrific performance on the big stage and take home the gold.

Hoani Ifopo-ogia capped off what was a strong tournament with a magnificent offensive showing in the gold medal match, finishing with 22 points on an efficient 8/11 shooting from the field to be the game’s leading scorer. He combined well with Cole Hopoi on the scoring front, with the latter posting 20 points of his own on 7/11 shooting.

Also playing a key role for the Junior Tall Blacks was Cooper Adams, who rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, including the dagger three-pointer late in the piece to seal the match and put the game out of reach.

Despite the result, there were still some solid contributors for Australia, with athletic forward William Hamilton and Isaac Riddle delivering 12 points each as they tried to get the Aussies rolling. Star point guard Luke Paul was well-held, managing just six points on 2/7 shooting from the field along with eight turnovers.