Barrett hots up again as Canada thrash Tall Blacks

(BEIJING, July 3) -- Canada rolled to their second big win at the Jack Donohue International Classic on Tuesday against a beleaguered New Zealand Tall Blacks.

The team from the FIBA Americas started slow but ended up claiming a decisive 90-63 victory.

Rowan Barrett led the Canadians in scoring for the second consecutive game, making five of eight shots from long range on his way to 19 points, while Olu Famutimi, the high-flying dunking artist who plays professionally in Ukraine and took part in the EuroCup All Star Game this year, had 13 points and five rebounds

Levon Kendall also buried eight of his 10 attempts from the floor in a 16-point effort.

Canada led by as many as 32 and sent the Tall Blacks to a third successive loss after their two friendly defeats to Australia.

"We're not trying to get used to losing," Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic said.

"But I must say today's performance was a much better performance, although the score doesn't show that. It was a much better performance in terms of execution. The shots didn't drop for us, we lost our confidence a little bit, and they were able to run away in the fourth and make it a 27-point game.

"Canada are a good team and they're tough to beat at home, even if you are shooting the ball well."

Kirk Penney, one of the Tall Black veterans who missed the two games against Australia and has just joined the side, had a game-high 26 points but he was also guilty of turning the ball over five times.

New Zealand had 19 turnovers in the game.

New Zealand were seven of 21 (33.3%) from behind the arc, compared to Canada's 11 of 26 (42%).

Both Canada and New Zealand are warming up for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, which tips off on July 14.

The Canadians are in Group C with Slovenia and Republic of Korea while New Zealand are in Group B with Germany and Cape Verde.

Vucinic's team takes on Lebanon on Wednesday, the other side playing in the Donohue event.

Lebanon, who are in Group A of the qualifying event in Athens with Greece and Brazil, were blown out by Canada on Monday.

"They're an international team," Vucinic said.

"We have a chance but it will be tough with this inexperienced team. I expect a tight game and a tough game and I'm glad we get another game straight away."

(Credit: FIBA. Click here for further information.)