Daniel Lights Up Sing-Sing
Tagged in: Kiwis Abroad, Tall Blacks
With three starters out, Chris Daniel took it upon himself to steer the Singapore Slingers home last week.
Daniel scored 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw line as the Slingers defeated the Malaysian All-Stars 92-80 on Wednesday as part of the Singapore Exhibition Series.
With Darren Ng, Blagoj Janev and Eric Sandrin out with injury, Daniel stepped up to lead all scorers with 29 points, and along with Australian John Fitzgerald helped create the winning break in the third quarter.
Daniel also added four rebounds, three blocks and two assists and dropped one of his three three-point attempts.
In Australia, former Tall Black Casey Frank had nine points (3/6 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/6 FT), nine rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes and Tall Blacks captain Pero Cameron had two points (1/3 FG), three rebounds and an assist in four minutes as the Gold Coast Blaze ended a 10-game losing streak to start the season, defeating the Townsville Crocodiles 115-106 at home on Wednesday.
But it was back to losing form on Saturday as the Blaze fell 95-83 to the ANBL-leading South Dragons in Melbourne.
Frank had seven points (2/4 FG, 0/1 3pt, 3/4 FT), three rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes while Cameron went scoreless in 12 minutes of work for the Blaze, and Tall Black Mika Vukona rattled off eight points (4/4 FG, 0/2 FT), seven rebounds, two steals and an assist in 20 minutes for the Drags, winners of seven straight.
Former international Tony Rampton continued his slow return to full action, scoring two points (1/3 FG), two rebounds and a steal in 14 minutes as the Sydney Spirit lost 98-80 at home to the Melbourne Tigers on Friday.
Tall Black Paora Winitana contributed one points (0/2 FG, 0/1 3pt, 1/2 FT), two rebounds and a block as the Adelaide 36ers lost 71-70 at home on a Darnell Mee buzzer-beater on Saturday night.
In Europe, Tall Black Ben Hill scored 23 points (9/13 FG, 4/5 3pt, 1/2 FT), 14 rebounds, two assists and a steal in 40 minutes but his Hottur team fell 83-80 to Valur in round five of Iceland’s division one.
Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw reached 10 points (4/5 FG, 2/4 FT), five rebounds and three blocks in 26 minutes as Grupo Begar Leon suffered an 89-85 home loss to Leche Rio Breogan on Saturday in round eight of the LEB Gold in Spain.
There were victories for former Tall Black Brendon Polyblank in Switzerland and Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic in Estonia, Polyblank’s Lausanne Basket defeating Geneva Devils 100-71 to improve to 3-3.
Vucinic’s BC Kalev/Cramo put together two powerful wins in the Estonian KML, routing Valga Welg 90-44 on Tuesday and Kuremaa SK 92-75 on Friday, with former NBL MVP Josh Pace top-scoring with 14 points. Vucinic and Kalev/Cramo face a monster week ahead, with a Baltic Basketball League road double-header against Barons/LMT Riga of Latvia on Wednesday and Siauliai of Lithuania on Saturday.
Not even a double-double from former Junior Tall Black BJ Anthony could prevent his Herzoge Wolfenbuttel squad falling to their third straight loss in the German Bundesliga division two Pro B. Anthony amassed 15 points (5/9 FG, 5/7 FT) and 12 rebounds in 25 minutes in an 82-77 loss to UBC Hannover Tigers on Saturday.
In Romania, Tab Baldwin’s U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca got back on track in Divizia A with a 78-53 win over BC Targoviste Bucuresti on Wednesday, with Wellington Saints forward Leon Henry scoring seven points (2/4 FG, 1/1 3pt, 0/2 FT) to go with seven rebounds in 13 minutes.
In the States, former Tall Black Jeremiah Trueman produced two double-figure point games as the University of Alaska-Anchorage fell to three close losses at Disney’s Division Two West Coast Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim.
Trueman had 11 points (2/8 FG, 7/9 FT), five rebounds and three blocks in 36 minutes in their opening 60-55 loss to Southwest Minnesota State on Friday, then four points (1/6 FG, 2/2 FT), three rebounds and an assist in 26 minutes in a 66-62 loss to Fort Lewis on Saturday, and 16 points (4/6 FG, 8/8 FT), five rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes in an 83-81 overtime loss to Humboldt State.
Tall Blacks back-up centre Alex Pledger saw his first college action for the season, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven boards in Belmont Abbey’s 55-41 exhibition win over Prime Time Players last week.
A solid 14 points (3/6 FG, 1/2 3pt, 7/8 FT), four rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes from Emerging Tall Black Zane Meehl helped guide Azusa Pacific to a 77-69 win over Montana Western at the NAIA Westminster Classic in Utah. Meehl produced four points (1/2 FG, 2/2 FT), a rebound and steal in 13 minutes as the Cougars fell 83-69 to hosts Westminster on Saturday.
Junior Tall Black Dion Prewster began his college life, scoring 14 points in his debut for San Jacinto College, a junior college outside of Houston, in a 113-60 blow-out of Houston Gladiators. The Ravens have started 3-0, winning the Sam Cassell Classic in their home gym.
Ryan Beesley and Oregon Tech remained unbeaten at 3-0 after two wins on a California road trip last week. Beesley had 10 points (3/4 FG, 2/2 3pt, 2/2 FT), a rebound, assist and steal in 19 minutes of an 82-74 win over Dominican University on Saturday and five points (2/4 FG, 1/3 FT) and five rebounds in 19 minutes in a 93-77 win over Pacific Union on Sunday.
In Tennessee, former Emerging Tall Black Mada Abdelhamid had two points (2/2 FT) in two minutes in Cumberland University’s 64-62 loss to Oakwood University on Tuesday, then scored three points (1/3 FG, 1/2 FT), two rebounds, two assists, a block and steal in 16 minutes in a 78-67 win over St Catherine College on Wednesday.
Caleb Harrison, assistant coach at Lambuth in Jackson, TN, saw his squad split their games at the FHU Classic, losing a 75-70 game to Berry College and beating Concordia College Selma 73-57.
Harbour product Rory Fannon managed two points (1/2 FG, 0/1 FT) and two rebounds in 10 minutes in Utah Valley’s 95-77 exhibition win over Mesa State College at home in Orem, UT, on Thursday.
James Holland had eight assists to go with seven points (3/6 FG, 1/2 FT) and two rebounds as he helped Bethel Christian Academy (Ky) in a 96-18 spree over LaRue County Baptist in Kentucky on Tuesday, keeping the Blue Flames unbeaten.
