(CNN Philippines) — The Road to Rio ended in Manila as the New Zealand Tall Blacks eliminated the Philippines from the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The Tall Blacks outplayed Gilas Pilipinas, 89-80, Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena behind the spectacular play of Tai Webster, who registered a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds. His brother Corey Webster added 23 markers.
Naturalized center Andray Blatche recorded a game-best 30 points for the Philippines but all went to naught as the Tab Baldwin-coached squad bowed out of Olympic contention.
Jayson Castro contributed 13 markers, while Jeff Chan and June Mar Fajardo each had 11.
The Filipinos were able to trim the deficit to as little as two with more than seven minutes left to play, but the Kiwis unleashed a 16-5 blast to take the game away from the hosts.
New Zealand will advance to the next stage of the tournament along with France. The two Group B teams will battle Thursday to determine their placing in the semi-final round.
In Group A action, Turkey and Senegal will figure in a win-or-go home contest to determine who will advance to the semis.
