Tai Webster and Isaac Fotu are about to board a flight back to New Zealand to join up with their Tall Blacks teammates for the World Cup qualifying fixture against Korea on Thursday in Wellington and it will be Fotu who will be the happier as they settle in for the long haul from Frankfurt.
The Tall Blacks forward and his Ratiopharm Ulm team sprung something of a surprise beating the more fancied Frankfurt Skyliners, with Tai Webster at the helm, in their German Bundesliga encounter on Saturday night.
The Skyliners entered the game with a superior 6-3 record and actually led Ulm 59-58 entering the final quarter.
However a blistering last quarter from the visitors, won 31-16, propelled Ulm to the win and improved their record to 5-5. Fotu, with an efficient 10 points (5 from 7 from the field) was one of four of his team in double figures.
Webster scored just the four points but demonstrated his all court ability by leading the Skyliners’ rebounding with 7 boards and also dished 5 assists.
Both players have been in good form this season. In his first season in the professional ranks, since graduating from the University of Nebraska, Webster is averaging 13 points, 4.3 rebounds and a team high 4.3 assists per game.
Fotu, who moved to Ulm this season, after playing three years in the Spanish League, is averaging 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds for the regular season defending champions.
The pair are expected to arrive in Auckland late Monday before linking with the rest of the Tall Blacks squad on Tuesday morning in Wellington.
LACEY LOWDOWN 