Tall Blacks beaten 91-81 by Venezuela

　　An injury-hit Tall Blacks team has been beaten 91-81 by Venezuela in the final match of their international basketball series in Wellington.

　　Carlos Cedeno led the way for the Venezuelans with 19 points, while Paora Winitana top-scored for the Tall Blacks with 18.

　　New Zealand started without the experienced Dillon Boucher and Paul Henare, while captain Pero Cameron did not take part in the second-half because of a calf strain.

　　Despite the injuries, coach Nenad Vucinic says his side should not have lost. He says they had a chance to win the game but shot with a low percentage and did not rebound as well as they should have.

　　It is his first loss as Tall Blacks coach and Vucinic says the loss still hurts even though they had already wrapped up the series with wins in the first two tests. He says he is always disappointed after every loss, but to suffer his first loss as head coach is even more disappointing. He points out that Venezuela improved markedly from the first two games of the series, playing 60 per cent better in the final game as they focussed on the match rather than the physicality.

　　Venezuela put a tragedy behind them to win. Former team-mate Gregory Vallenilla was killed on the eve of the game in a car accident in Venezuela.

　　Captain Hector Romero says basketball was far from their minds, but the team honoured Vallenilla. Romero says it was hard to concentrate on basketball but they got it done and did a good job.

　　New Zealand's won the three-match series 2-1.

　　The team leaves for China today to compete in the Boris-Stankovic Cup in preparation for the Olympic qualifying series with Australia next month.