After a hard-fought victory against Japan last night, the Tall Blacks men's basketball squad of New Zealand remained unbeaten in the ongoing 2016 Atlas International Basketball Challenge, as they routed host country China 98-74 at the Suzhou Sports Center on Thursday.

New Zealand, which currently holds the 21^st spot in the FIBA world rankings, dominated almost the entire game. The Kiwis end the first two quarters of the matchup with a comfortable 50-22 halftime lead.

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The Tall Blacks had an impressive shooting night, as they registered an amazing 55 percent shooting from two-point range and 36 percent from beyond the arc.  The New Zealanders also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Asian giants 42-23.

"I was impressed with the contribution from everybody, we got into early foul trouble with our bigs but everyone stepped in and contributed really well," New Zealand Head Coach Pau Henare said. "You never know what is going to happen in the future and in important games you need these guys to have these experiences to fall back on." 

Big man Michael Karena led the Tall Blacks with a team-high 18 points. Listed at 6' 10" and 270 pounds, the rookie center gave a perfect 9-for-9 shooting performance from the field in the second half of the game.

Corey Webster and Tai Webster chipped in with16 points and 13 points respectively, while Isaac Fotu added 10 points for the winners.

The young basketball tournament is part of intensive preparation by New Zealand for the 2016 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will be held in Manila, Philippines from July 5 to 10. New Zealand is in a Group B that also includes France (No. 5) and the host team Philippines (No. 28). Turkey, Senegal, and Canada comprise Group A.

TagsNew Zealand Tall Blacks, 2016 atlas challenge, Rio Olympics 2016, 2016 fiba olympics qualifying tournament, Gilas Pilipinas