Basketball New Zealand

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Former Tall Black coach Tab Baldwin (Photosport)

Former Tall Black coach Tab Baldwin finally achieved his first victory in the tough Greek HEBA Championship, steering PAOK Thessaloniki to a 79-77 home win over Olympia Larisas.

PAOK trailed by 12 points with six minutes remaining, but produced a 15-3 run to get back in contention. They needed a three-pointer from Mamoutou Diarra with six seconds remaining to secure the result and improve to 1-3 for the season.

Harbour guard Hayden Allen continued his perfection from beyond the arc as his Singapore Slingers dropped a home game 93-111 to Adelaide 36ers in the Australian Hummer NBL Championship.

Allen logged 10 minutes off the bench for seven points (3/3 FG, 1/1 3pt) and two rebounds. In his limited opportunities with the struggling Slingers (2-10), he is shooting 64.3% FG (9/14) and has missed none of his five three-point attempts this season.

Tall Black centre Tony Rampton produced a solid performance to help the West Sydney Razorbacks to a 102-93 victory over the visiting Gold Coast Blaze, contributing seven points (3/8 FG, 1/2 FT), eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 30 minutes as a starter.

The Pigs have been the surprise packet of this yearís Australian NBL, rising from the bottom of the table last season to sit fourth with a 6-4 record this year.

For Gold Coast, NZ captain Pero Cameron had 13 points (5/8 FG, 2/5 3pt, 1/2 FT), eight rebounds and three assists in 40 minutes as a starter, Tall Black team-mate Casey Frank had 11 points (5/8 FG, 1/1 3pt), eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks off the bench and Waikato Pistons import Jason Crowe had 16 points (6/22 FG, 2/13 3pt, 2/2 FT), seven rebounds, five assists and a steal.

With Kiwi Lindsay Tait and veteran Matt Campbell sidelined, Canterbury point guard Jeremy Kench was promoted to the starting line-up in the Wollongong Hawksí 87-101 home loss to Townsville Crocodiles.

Kench, who has been strong off the bench recently for the Hawks, provided three points (1/2 FG, 1/1 3pt) and three rebounds in 21 minutes.

Defending champions Brisbane suffered their third straight loss – 109-114 to the Sydney Kings – with Tall Black centre Craig Bradshaw contributing five points (1/3 FG, 3/3 FT) and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.

In US college play, Kiwi-born Aron Baynes scored 15 points as Washington State University rolled Eastern Washington 68-41 in their regular season opener.

Baynes, born in Gisborne and eligible for the Tall Blacks, represented Australia at the World University Games in August. He shot 6/9 FG, 3/4 FT, adding three rebounds and a block in 22 minutes as a starter.

Team-mate Tom Abercrombie, who played for New Zealand at the student festival, logged 12 minutes off the bench for the Cougars, contributing four rebounds and two assists.

Former Junior Tall Black Corey Webster began to feel more at home in the Lambuth University rotation, scoring nine points (3/5 FG, 3/4 3pt) in their 84-60 win over Hannibal-La Grange College.

Emerging Tall Black forward Christopher Reay was perfect from the field as his Midwestern State University dropped their season opener 78-83 to Oklahoma City University. He scored 11 points (5/5 FG, 1/3 FT), adding four rebounds and a block in 25 minutes.

National team-mate Mada Abdelhamid was also prominent as Houghton College defeated College of St Josephís 92-72. He had 15 points (7/10 FG, 1/2 FT), three rebounds, an assist and a steal in 24 minutes as a starter.