IZMIR, Turkey — Kirk Penney scored 25 points to help New Zealand surge into the knockout round of the basketball world championships with an 82-70 win over France on Thursday.
New Zealand has won three straight games after losing its first two to clinch third place in Group D. They will face Russia on Monday.
Mika Vukona finnished with 15 points for New Zealand, which built a 39-25 halftime lead by hitting 8 of 17 3-point attempts.
Yannick Bokolo had 13 points and Nando de Colo added 10 for France, which finished fourth after losing its last two games and will face Turkey on Sunday.
