The New Zealand Kiwis, led by Wisconsin senior guard Kirk Penney, fell short of medalling in the World Basketball Championship, held in Indianapolis, Ind.
New Zealand, after dropping a 89-78 loss to eventual champions Yugoslavia in Friday's semifinals, gave up a 117-95 loss to Germany to earn fourth place.
Penney performed well on the court, scoring 19 points in a game-high 32 minutes. He shot 6-12 from the field and sank six of seven free throws. Penney averaged 16.9 points per game of the tournament and shot 43.2 percent from the field. He also shot 78.9 percent from the charity stripe, sinking 30 of 38 free throws.
New Zealand, considered to be the WBC's Cinderella team, earned an automatic bid to the 2004 Olympics. The team's fourth place is not only the best performance in the Championship, but the best-ever finish at an international competition.
In order to qualify for the tournament, the Kiwis defeated rivals Australia, a team they haven't defeated since 1978, in a best-of-three series. Once in the United States, New Zealand, who competed in Group D, got past Russia and Venezuela to enter the second round. Despite losses to Argentina in the first round and the United States and Germany in the second round, a win over China in the final game of the second round allowed the Kiwis into the quarterfinals.
New Zealand faced Group E champion Puerto Rico and narrowly pulled off a 65-63 win, making the win the biggest in New Zealand basketball history and giving the Kiwis a ticket to the semifinals.
