Basketball: Tall Blacks win first Olympic qualifying match

New Zealand opened their Olympics men's basketball qualifying tournament with a 77-50 win over Cape Verde in Athens, Greece today.

Shooters Kirk Penney with 25 points, Craig Bradshaw with 14 points and Pero Cameron with 13 points, helped seal the Tall Blacks victory, extending the team's halftime 42-20 lead to win with a 27-point difference.

The win over the West African country almost guarantees New Zealand a place in the quarterfinals, where they will face a must-win game against, most likely, either hosts and world number six Greece or 18th-ranked Brazil on Saturday.