The Tall Blacks have just come up short against Serbia and appear to be building nicely for the World Cup, which is just a week away.
The Tall Blacks led for most of the match against Serbia but lost some key possession in the final quarter to go down 83-79 in Vrsac early yesterday.
The visiting side led 45-42 at halftime and was ahead with five minutes to go before some tough calls on the New Zealanders put the home side on the free throw line and the points quickly mounted up.
The Tall Blacks again won the rebound count against bigger opposition, taking control of the boards 41-30. Casey Frank (9), Mika Vukona (8) and Isaac Fotu (7) led the way in the muscle department.
Corey Webster scored 18 points while Everard Bartlett tallied 13 points.
Kirk Penney and Mika Vikona scored a dozen points each.
Originally the game was supposed to be played behind closed doors in a small gymnasium but the match was changed to a large stadium with a full house of 4000 watching.
Tall Blacks assistant coach Paul Henara said it was a bittersweet game for the side.
It had come so close and the players had talked afterwards of not being satisfied of running these teams close, the Tall Blacks wanted to win.
But it was good to put on a better performance than the match against Greece earlier in the week, when the Tall Blacks were well beaten.
Tom Abercrombie sat out the game with a minor abdominal strain.
The sides will meet again tomorrow before they head to Spain for final preparations for the World Cup.
The Tall Blacks' first cup game is against Turkey next weekend.
