NBL wins for Giants, Pistons, Hawks, Cougars

Relevant offers

Basketball

Crowe's workout sales pitch lures Gurley to Saints Breakers set to play in South Island Crocs put deathroll on Cairns Breakers coach hails fans after Hawks win Lin the leader Knicks have been looking for Lin passes Knicks to romp over Kings Abercrombie stars as Breakers shoot down Hawks Tall Ferns coach confident despite tough draw Todd hunts opportunities with Sharks New Nelson Giant embraces the team-first ethos

With their full complement of starters together for the first time, the Nelson Giants picked up a key home win over the Wellington Saints on Saturday night in the National Basketball League.

Veteran Phill Jones had 29 points and sole import Michael Harrison finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds as the Giants rode a big second quarter to hold on for a 92-86 win over Pero Cameron's Saints at the Trafalgar Centre in Week 2 of the NZNBL.

On a busy night around the League, two of the other three results went the way of the road teams.

The two-time defending champion Waikato Pistons defeated the Taranaki Mountain Airs 96-78 in Te Awamutu, while the Bay Hawks pounded on the Manawatu Jets 118-76 in Palmerston North and the Christchurch Cougars travelled south to pick up a 104-71 win over the Otago Nuggets in Dunedin.

The Giants, coming off a 1-1 road trip in Week 1, outscored the previously unbeaten Saints 27-18 in the second period to take a 10-point lead into the main break.

Wellington, led by 25 points and eight rebounds from American import Erron Maxey, closed within two points after three quarters but the Giants, pushed by a typically boisterous home crowd, were able to close out the game.

Jones shot 7/20 FG, 3/6 3pt and 12/13 FT for his 29 points, adding seven rebounds, three assists and three steals to his stat-line, while centre Tony Rampton had 11 points, Tall Black forward Mika Vukona, making his first appearance for Nelson, managed 10 points, nine boards and four assists and Tall Blacks guard Michael Fitchett nine points.

Darryl Hudson, the Saints other import, finished with 18 points and six assists, while Casey Frank produced 15 points and nine boards and Troy McLean 14 points for Wellington, who shot a combined 10/35 (29 percent) on three-point attempts.

In Palmerston North, the Hawks had four players go for 20-plus points as they routed the Jets.

Import Jamil Terrell topped the scoring with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, while Everard Bartlett, filling in at point guard, had 21 points, Ben Hill 20 points and Nat Connell 20 points. Chris Daniel and Geogre Golden also scored in double digits.

The game effectively was over after the first period as the Hawks, who shot at a 63 percent clip from the field and 55 percent on three-point shots for the game, flew to a 40-8 lead.

Guard Matt Te Huna top-scored with 16 points for Manawatu, who were out-rebounded 46-30.

A big night from Tall Blacks and NZ Breakers swingman Tom Abercrombie with 37 points and a quiet 25 points from American point guard Eric Devendorf boosted the Pistons to an 18-point win on the road.

Waikato never trailed in the game and when the Mountain Airs were able to close within four points at halftime, the Pistons answered with a 30-18 third period to put the result away.

In Dunedin, former Tall Blacks Paora Winitana and Jeremy Kench starred as the Cougars improved to 2-1 with a big win over their southern rivals.

Winitana had 26 points and Kench 25 points and seven assists as the Cougars built a 66-32 halftime lead, then cruised at the Edgar Centre in the Nuggets first home game since the 2008 season.

Otago's import Tyler Amaya and Antoine Tisby provided the bulk of their scoring, with Amaya scoring 23 and Tisby 19, with nine boards. The Nuggets shot just 3/27 from long-distance and 36 percent from the field, big discrepancies to the Cougars who shot 50-plus percent in both catgories.

The Harbour Heat and Southland Sharks finish off Week 2 when they meet at the North Shore Events Centre on Sunday afternoon, tip-off 3pm.

- © Fairfax NZ News