History right here: Sharks get win on board

The Southland Sharks have got their NBL basketball season back on track, beating the Hawke's Bay Hawks in Napier last night, 85-79, for their first win in franchise history.

American imports Rene Rougeau and Mike Rose were standouts for the Sharks, with Rougeau having his best game in a Sharks singlet, scoring a game-high 20 points and also grabbing eight rebounds and five steals. Rose has been a real find for the Sharks this season and the livewire guard again shone with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Former Australian Boomer and Southland's skipper Luke Martin, who arrived in the country only on Wednesday, made a big difference for the Sharks – adding 15 points, six assists and four steals.

Sharks coach Richard Dickel was ecstatic with the performance from his team and said they really upped their game without big man Martin Iti, who remained in Invercargill because of back spasms.

"It's the first win in franchise history. I'm really proud of the guys. We shut them down in the second half defensively and showed that good things can happen when we play defence."

Hawke's Bay jumped out to a 24-20 lead after the first quarter, but the Sharks came back strongly in the second 10 minutes of play to sneak in front 42-41 at halftime. At three-quarter time, they clung to a slim 61-57 advantage and held their nerve in the closing stages, despite a strong fightback from the Hawks.

The Sharks were let down by their rebounding against Harbour last week, but Dickel said it was a much-improved effort on the boards from his team last night."We did a really good job with our rebounding. Mike (Rose) came to the party and James (Paringatai) and Gareth (Dawson) really stepped it up."

Hawke's Bay is regarded as one of the most difficult places in the league to get an away victory and Dickel said it was a huge result. He believed it was the kind of performance that would kick-start the Sharks' campaign after beginning the season with two losses.

The Sharks are on the road again next week with away matches against Wellington on Thursday and Christchurch on Friday before returning to Stadium Southland to host Taranaki on April 1.

FINAL WHISTLE

Southland Sharks 85 (Rene Rougeau 20, Mike Rose 19, Luke Martin 15)

Hawke's Bay Hawks 79 (Ben Hill 16, Nat Connell 13, Chris Daniel 12)

- © Fairfax NZ News

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