A centimetre is all that separated the Tall Blacks from a series win at ASB Arena in Tauranga last night but a last gasp three point attempt ruled on the line left the final score 76-75 to South Korea.

Trailing 76-73 with 10 seconds remaining Kirk Penney was called for his toes on the line in what would have sent the match into overtime.
Tall Blacks BJ Anthony and Tom Abercrombie contest for the ball with South Koreas Se Keun Oh. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Tall Blacks No. 2 Corey Webster performs a layup during last night's game.

Tauranga Korean School pupils sing the South Korean national anthem.

The visitors win now has the three match series evenly poised at 1-1 heading into tomorrow's game at North Shore Events Centre.

Korea were never going to shoot as poorly as they did in the opener in Wellington and went toe-to-toe with the Tall Blacks, crucially controlling the final quarter in a tense tussle in front of a sold out crowd.

The Tall Blacks, for their part, were not as effective on offence with the Koreans disrupting much more effectively in game two and contributing to the home side's 15 turnovers, many of which led to fast break points for the visitors.

Poor free throw shooting – 18 of 28 – and injuries were also contributors, with the Tall Blacks losing Alex Pledger and Everard Bartlett in the first half having already lost Isaac Fotu to illness before the team left for the stadium.

Tall Blacks head coach Nenad Vucinic did not offer up any excuses. He says they prepared for a stronger Korean side to front and the result show a better representation of where the two teams are at and the strength pf the Koreans.

'As I said in Wellington we jumped on them a little with some first game energy, we were fresh and hadn't played at home for some time and that carried us to that margin in Wellington, tonight is what we expected from Korea and it makes for a good series heading to Auckland on Saturday,” says Vucinic.

'They are a very good team and well drilled and on the basis of tonight they are more advanced than us in their preparation having been together for nearly two months. This is exactly what we need, you have to give them credit, their offensive execution was good and defensively they are very aggressive in what was a very good game.”

Shooting guard Corey Webster is another not surprised at the Korean turnaround.

'You expect that sort of comeback from any international team, we knew they were going to come out strong, they didn't shoot well in the first game but they turned that around tonight, that is how sport goes sometimes so we need to be prepared for that again in game three and we can't be complacent and have to play better defence on Saturday,” says Webster.

Looking back on the frantic final 30 seconds, Webster admits the Tall Blacks had their chances to tie the game up.

'We had a couple of looks and they are the ones you really want to make. When Kirk {Kirk Penney] made his, everyone thought it was a three but obviously the foot was on the line and the referee called it. All we can do is get better, prepare for the next game and come out strong.”

Webster was the best of the Tall Blacks on offence, contributing 20 points from the bench on 8 of 15 shooting while Kirk Penney had 19 for the home side.

Tom Abercrombie stepped up with 9 boards in the absence of Pledger, BJ Anthony 7 points and 5 boards and Mika Vukona had 10 points and 9 boards in a rare home town appearance for the New Zealand captain.

For Korea Taejong Moon led the way with 21 points, including 5 of 9 from long range but it was a much more accurate Korean team all round as they shot at 43 per cent from the floor and disrupted the Tall Blacks offence much more effectively than they did in Wellington.

Tall Blacks - 75 Corey Webster 20, Kirk Penney 19, Mika Vukona 9pts, 10rebounds

Korea - 76 Taejong Moon 21pts

South Korea basketballers salute the national anthem.
Tall Blacks perform the haka ahead of the game against South Korea.