Basketball New Zealand

Hawks forward Paora Winitana top-scored with 19 points (Photosport)

Comfortable home wins for the Century City Wellington Saints, Appliance Shed Harbour Heat and Easy LPG Bay Hawks headlined Friday night around the Dominion Finance NBL.

Troy McLean had 27 points and import Ernest Scott 24 points as the Saints took sole possession of second spot with a 95-86 win over Devon Dynamos Taranaki at TSB Bank Arena in Wellington.

Tim Behrendorff scored a game-high 29 points as the Heat cruised in the second half against the Marley Canterbury Rams, while Paora Winitana top-scored with 19 points for the Hawks in a 89-76 win over the Cartridge World Otago Nuggets.

Taranaki made a game of it in the first half, down just seven points at the main break, but threes from McLean, point guard Luke Martin and an unlikely source Arthur Trousdell pushed the Saints out by 12 midway through the third.

The Dynamos, who got 27 points from forward Link Abrams, got within five points but gave up a 9-2 run at the end of the third and early-fourth. Wellington continued to score at will, up 16 points with five minutes to play, before a McLean triple with 2:14 remaining gave the Saints a 17-point lead and iced the game.

American centre Kevin Owens fell one rebound short of a double-double for Wellington with 12 points and nine boards, while point guard Martin posted his double-double with 12 points and 12 assists. Trousdell also scored 15 points.

Abrams was devastating for Taranaki with 27 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while guard Ben Jeffrey added 18 points, four assists and four steals.

It was a similar story at The Furnace on the North Shore, but Canterbury only kept the game tight for the first quarter.

Harbour went up by double figures at the 7:56 mark of the second quarter and only let the Rams back within 10 points for a brief spell in the second period.

Heat ran out on a 12-2 run to start the second quarter to take a 12-point lead and held a 13-point advantage at halftime.

Behrendorff shot 10-of-15 from the floor for his 29 points, adding six rebounds, with shooting guard Hayden Allen putting up the best stat-line with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals. Four other Heat players – Oscar Forman, Dan Ryan, BJ Anthony and Mika Vukona – scored in double digits.

Kench was assisted by American Joey Harrell and Gerard Bowden, both with 13 points.

The Hawks broke their game open in the third quarter, going from two points down to 17 points up with a 26-7 run in the final eight minutes of the period. All the Hawks starters contributed to the scoring.

Otago trailed by 10 points within three minutes and were down eight after the first quarter, but were able to rally behind imports Lemar Gayle and newly-acquired Antoine Tisby, taking the lead briefly and sending the scores into halftime tied 43-43.

The Hawks had five players score 10-plus points, including Kareem Johnson with 14, Everard Bartlett 13, Aidan Daly 12 and Paul Henare 10, while high-scoring import Kevin Smith was held to eight.

Gayle and Tisby shared a game-high 23 points, with Brent Charleton and Darryl Jones, with 11 each, the other leading scorers for Otago.

Dominion Finance NBL Round Seven

At TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Century City Wellington Saints 95 (Troy McLean 27, Ernest Scott 24, Arthur Trousdell 15, Kevin Owens 12, Luke Martin 12) Devon Dynamos Taranaki 86 (Link Abrams 27, Ben Jeffrey 18, Keith Salscheider 16, Aaron Nowell 12). HT: 43-36
Saints vs Dynamos Box Score (22KB html)

At Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale
Easy LPG Bay Hawks 89 (Paora Winitana 19, Kareem Johnson 14, Everard Bartlett 13, Aidan Daly 12, Paul Henare 10) Cartridge World Otago Nuggets 76 (Lemar Gayle 23, Antoine Tisby 23, Brent Charleton 11, Darryl Jones 11). HT: 43-43
Hawks vs Nuggets Box Score (21KB html)

At The Furnace, North Shore
Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 97 (Tim Behrendorff 29, Dan Ryan 12, Hayden Allen 12, Mika Vukona 12, Oscar Forman 10, BJ Anthony 10) Marley Canterbury Rams 78 (Jeremy Kench 22, Gerard Bowden 13, Joey Harrell 13). HT: 38-25
Heat vs Rams Box Score (20KB html)

Round Seven games, scores and standings