New Zealand move on

New Zealand clinched a place in the knockout phase of the world basketball champions on Thursday with an 86-75 win over Panama.

The Tall Blacks, who looked poised for an early exit after dropping their opening three games, collected their second straight win to secure fourth place in Group B behind Spain, Germany and Angola.

New Zealand's victory ended any chance hosts Japan had of reaching the second round, rendering their final group match against Spain later on Thursday meaningless.

"Our goal was to win as many games as we could and make it to the final 16," said Kiwi guard Mark Dickel, who missed the opening three games due to a drugs suspension.

"But we know we're going to have to take it up about 10 notches from here."