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Saints Go Top As Pistons Fall
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And look who just came marching in.
The Century Century Wellington Saints piled on another loss for the previously undefeated Waikato Pistons with an 81-66 win to complete round seven of the Dominion Finance NBL on Sunday afternoon.
The win, the Saints fourth straight and fifth straight on their home floor at TSB Bank Arena, moved Doug Marty’s squad ahead of the Pistons and into sole possession of the top spot for the first time this season.
Wellington, who haven’t lost since their embarrassing 98-72 nationally-televised loss to the Easy LPG Bay Hawks on March 27, completed their 2-0 home double-header in round seven with alarming ease.
Led by a balanced scoring attack, the Saints only allowed Waikato, who were coming off their first loss of the year, 88-81 to the CPS Nelson Giants, on Saturday night, within eight points once in the final quarter and answered every Pistons basket to stomp out any comeback embers.
That came after Friday night’s nine-point win over Devon Dynamos Taranaki, which Wellington closed out with a controlled fourth quarter, the Dynamos only able to get within single digits in the dying seconds.
American import Ernest Scott, in his third game after replacing Marquis Webb before round six, led the Saints with an 18-point and 12-rebound double-double, plus three blocks on league-leading scorer Brian Wethers.
Scott shot 3-of-4 on three-pointers as Wellington shot 44.4 percent from distance as a team and 51.6 percent from the field, while the Pistons jacked up a season-high 32 three-point attempts, making only seven, and shooting 33.3 percent from the field.
Troy McLean continued his return to form with 13 points, including a three with 2:14 to play that gave the Saints a 93-76 lead, while Leon Henry had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists and American centre Kevin Owens posted his third double-double in five games with 12 points and 11 boards.
After Waikato shot out to a 10-2 lead, Wellington were able to out-score them 13-3 to end the first period, taking a six-point lead. That quickly grew to double digits as the Pistons settled for outside shots and scored 13 points in the second.
“We haven’t been playing well for a while,” Pistons coach Murray McMahon said.
“We’ve been getting wins but not playing well, not play the team game. It’s not unexpected.
“At practice on Thursday, I turned and said to my assistant coach that ‘we’re in trouble’. We just weren’t running our plays in practice, so how were we going to run them in a game. It was sloppy.
“We decided Monday will be break-down drills, as much as they hate doing them. We need to do the basics and until we can execute right, we won’t be doing five-on-five full-court. And maybe that’s a coaching error and I should’ve done it earlier.”
Two late threes saw Jason Crowe, who shot 6-of-25 from the field and 3-of-16 on threes, top-score for the previous competition leaders with 17 points, to go with 11 rebounds, five assists and six steals, while Wethers and Ben Hill, who sparked a brief third-quarter comeback, added 15 points.
Elsewhere around the League in round seven, the Cartridge World Otago Nuggets posted their second win in three games, getting a combined 57 points from imports Lemar Gayle and Antoine Tisby in a 100-81 win over the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets in Palmerston North, but still sit bottom of the standings.
The Hawks improved to 3-3 with an 89-76 win over the Nuggets on Friday night but still remain two points and a half-game outside the top-six, which is filled out by the Appliance Shed Harbour Heat, 97-78 winners over the Marley Canterbury Rams on Friday night, Giants, Stars, 89-71 losers to the Rams on Thursday night, and Dynamos.
Dominion Finance NBL Round Seven
Thursday, April 10
At ASB Stadium, Auckland
Marley Canterbury Rams 89 (Jeremy Kench 25, Wilder Auguste 18, Dave Langrell 12) Youthtown Auckland Stars 71 (Adrian Majstrovich 26, Tyrone Davey 17, Larry Bratcher 10). HT: 46-42
Friday, April 11
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
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
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
Saturday, April 12
At Trafalgar Centre, Nelson
CPS Nelson Giants 88 (Phill Jones 22, Michael Harrison 21, Michael Fitchett 14, Chris Daniel 13, Jamil Terrell 13) Waikato Pistons 81 (Brian Wethers 21, Puke Lenden 14, Jason Crowe 13, Ben Hill 13, Mike Homik 13). HT: 53-31
At Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
Cartridge World Otago Nuggets 100 (Lemar Gayle 31, Antoine Tisby 26, Brent Charleton 19, Nat Connell 12) Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 81 (Kantrail Horton 28, Keith Davis 15, Miles Pearce 13, Kaine Hokianga 10). HT: 49-34
Sunday, April 13
At TSB Bank Arena, Wellington
Century City Wellington Saints 81 (Ernest Scott 18, Troy McLean 13, Leon Henry 13, Kevin Owens 12) Waikato Pistons 66 (Jason Crowe 17, Ben Hill 17, Brian Wethers 15). HT: 45-32
Saints vs Pistons Box Score (22KB html)
