Saints roll; Sharks bite way into NBL top-six
- NZ Sports Wire
- Jun 6
- 3 min read
The Wellington Saints became the first team to 12 wins in the National Basketball League (NBL) this season.
The Mills Albert Saints pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 93-77 road win over the Logik Franklin Bulls at The Stockyard in Pukekohe to open Week 12 of the Sal's NBL on Wednesday night.
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The Saints got a game-high 25 points (7/19 FG, 3/6 3pt, 8/10 FT), seven rebounds and five steals from Australian forward Nick Marshall, while Tall Blacks forward Hyrum Harris just missed a triple-double, with 13 points (5/14 FG), 14 boards, eight assists and three steals.
Kiwi guard Izayah Le'afa put up 20 points (7/15 FG, 3/9 3pt), four boards, three assists and three steals, while American centre Nick Muszynski had 18 points (7/11 FG, 4/5 FT) and nine rebounds, and Jordan Ngatai nine points and seven boards.
For the Bulls, German centre Till Gloger had 18 points (8/13 FG) and nine rebounds, while Tobias Cameron added 12 points (5/11 FG) and four assists, and Flynn Cameron 10 points (3/6 FG, 4/4 FT) and 10 rebounds off the bench.
Tall Blacks guard Ethan Rusbatch was held to just six points and six boards, while the Bulls' other two imports, Tae Hardy and David Okwera, combined for just 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
After a first half that featured eight lead changes and seven ties, the Saints took control with a 14-0 run early in the third period, then put the game away with a 13-0 stretch midway through the fourth quarter.
The Saints (12-4) are off until next Saturday (tip-off 7.30pm), when they host the Auckland Tuatara, while the Bulls (7-9) have a longer wait before travelling to Invercargill to face the Southland Sharks on Sunday, June 15 (tip-off 6.30pm).
In the race for the lower playoff seedings behind the Rams and Saints, the Southland Sharks scored a big home win on Thursday night.
The Sharks got 66 points from their three American imports in a 99-90 victory over the Taranaki Airs at Invercargill's ILT Stadium Southland, improving them to 7-8 and to fifth in the standings.
Keylan Boone led Southland with 26 points (8/12 FG, 5/7 3pt, 5/5 FT), seven rebounds and two blocks, while his fellow import Caleb Asberry put up 21 points (6/11 FG, 3/6 3pt, 6/10 FT), four boards, nine assists and two blocks.
American big man Josiah Allick provided 19 points (5/7 FG, 9/10 FT), nine rebounds and seven assists, while former Tall Black Brayden Inger had 14 points (5/9 FG, 2/4 3pt) off the bench.
NZ Breakers forward Carlin Davison top-scored for the Airs, with 26 points (11/17 FG, 3/7 3pt), six rebounds, eight assists and two steals, while Dom Kelman-Poto, Jaylen Gerrand, Armon Fletcher and Deng Dut also scored in double figures.
In a back-and-forth game, which featured 15 lead changes and 10 ties, the Sharks scored 11 straight points early in the fourth, then eight straight, all at the free-throw line, in the final two minutes to pull away.
In the mid-table battle likely for four up-for-grabs playoff spots, the third-placed Manawatu Jets (8-5) are separated from the ninth-placed Bulls (7-9) by just 2 1/2 games. Teams have between four and seven games remaining.
The Sharks next host the Bulls in nine days, while the Airs (8-6) return to the court on Saturday (tip-off 7.30pm) against the Otago Nuggets (2-12) in Dunedin.
