Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Tall Black centre Craig Bradshaw (Photosport)

NZ Tall Black centre Craig Bradshaw returned to the court after recovering from an ankle injury and helped the Brisbane Bullets defeat West Sydney Razorbacks 120-102 in the Hummer NBL Championship.

Bradshaw came off the bench for 15 points (7/11 FG, 1/5 FT), seven rebounds and a block in 26 minutes. International team-mate Dillon Boucher also had his most productive performance as a member of the Bullets starting line-up, contributing two points (1/2 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal in 32 minutes.

For the Pigs, Tall Black centre Tony Rampton had eight points (1/8 FG, 6/6 FT) and four rebounds.

Defending champions Brisbane are now 11-5 for the season.

The Razorbacks completed a disappointing Queensland road trip with a 95-102 loss to Cairns Taipans and slipped to 7-10, just outside playoff contention.

Harbour guard Hayden Allen had 13 points as the Singapore Slingers fell 105-117 on the road to the Townsville Crocs.

Allen, who seems a permanent fixture now in the Slingers starting lineup, shot 4/9 FG, 2/5 3pt, 3/4 FT, adding four rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes.

In US college play, Tall Black prospect Jeremiah Trueman came off the bench for 15 points as University of Alaska-Anchorage overwhelmed Texas-Permian Basin 95-45 in the second of two encounters.

Trueman, who transferred from San Diego Christian College this year, shot 7/10 FG, 1/2 FT, adding five rebounds in 19 minutes.

He had eight points (4/5 FG), four rebounds and an assist in their first meeting, a 91-52 win for the Seawolves, who are now 4-3 for the season.

Emerging Tall Black forward Christopher Reay snatched 14 rebounds for Midwestern State University’s 71-59 win over Texas A&M-Commerce.

Reay added seven points (3/6 FG, 1/4 FT) in 27 minutes as the Mustangs improved to 3-4 for the season.

In Greece, former Tall Black coach Tab Baldwin felt his tentative grip on his position with the PAOK club slip further when they lost 64-87 to AEK in the HEBA Championship. They are now bottom of the table with a 1-7 record.

Tall Black point guard Mark Dickel was powerless to prevent defending champions Bamberg falling 60-80 to Berlin in the German Bundesliga. Dickel came off the bench for six points (1/2 FG, 1/1 3pt, 3/4 FT), one rebounds, two assists and two steals in 19 minutes as Bamberg fell to 9-3.

Coach Jeff Green and his Kiwi imports suffered another frustrating weekend on the road in the Icelandic second division, losing both legs of a double header to FSu (68-114) and top-of-the-table Breidablik (83-98).

Emerging Tall Blacks captain Everard Bartlett produced their best individual performance of the trip with 25 points (9/17 FG, 2/6 3pt, 5/5 FT) and six rebounds in the second game. Hill had 14 and 15 points respectively.