DONGGUAN, China, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand smashed Japan 111-81 in Group O of the classification round to win its second victory in 2019 FIBA World Cup here on Saturday.
New Zealand's sharpshooter Corey Webster had team-best 27 points and Isaac Fotu added 23 points and 10 rebounds. Only two players of Japan harvested scores in the double digits with Nick Fazekas pocketing game-high 31 points and Daiki Tanaka getting 10 points.
A 15-2 run helped New Zealand lead by 12 points, and Japan responded with a 17-5 run to equalize with 29-29 in the first quarter.
A crazy 26-10 third quarter made New Zealand lead by 16 points and widened the gap to more than 20 points in the third quarter. Japan never got closer for the rest of the time.
21-year-old Rui Hachimura, Japan's leading scorer who had 13.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the first round, didn't play in this game, and he will play in NBA's Washington Wizards next season.
Japan lost to the United States, Czech Republic and Turkey in the first round, while New Zealand beat Montenegro and was defeated by Greece and Brazil.
