Defending Champs Start 2-0
Tagged in: NBL
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Just as they were a season ago, the CPS Nelson Giants find themselves atop the Dominion Finance NBL after round one.
The Giants got 44 points from their American imports Jamil Terrell and Michael Harrison as they completed the Southern swing double-header with a 80-76 win over the Cartridge World Otago Nuggets at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin on Sunday afternoon.Terrell scored 22 and added 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Harrison had 20 points, nine boards and four blocks as the defending champion Giants backed up from their 83-77 win over the Marley Canterbury Rams in Christchurch on Saturday night.
“First-up for me as a coach, it’s been a work in progress so I’m stoked to come away with two wins,” said Giants rookie head coach Chris Tupu, assistant under Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic last season.
“We’re by no means a polished unit and we can go forward from here. We’ve got a short turnaround now on Thursday and Friday, so we’ll have to work hard.”
The Giants got the W on Sunday despite a 2-of-12 shooting performance from Tall Black Phill Jones, who joined the team on Saturday in Christchurch from the New Zealand Breakers and started both games from the bench.
A Nat Connell three in the closing seconds pulled the rebuilding Nuggets within two points but Nelson point guard Michael Fitchett, who ended with 12 points, iced the game with two free throws.
American Jay Anderson scored a game-high 25 points, including three threes and nine rebounds, while Breakers development player Brent Charleton added 15 points, six boards, four assists and two steals.
The Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 in the first quarter but on the back of 12 second quarter points from Anderson, Otago took a 34-33 lead midway through the period.
The lead flip-flopped in the third period and early in the fourth until a Fitchett triple and three scoreless minutes from the Nuggets gave the Giants the leads for good.
The job gets no easier for Tupu and the G-Men, facing the Waikato Pistons on Thursday night in Te Awamutu and Devon Dynamos Taranaki on Friday night.
“It’s four games in seven days for us.
“Those other teams didn’t play, they’re just waiting for us. That’s the first part of the week over and done with so we’ve just got to regroup and get ready for another big week.”
Balanced scoring – six players scored in double figures against the Rams and four against the Nuggets – was a feature of the Giants offence and Tupu was pleased with the team’s chemistry after limited pre-season time together.
“Seeing the team stick together early in the season,” Tupu said when asked what was most pleasing from the opening weekend.
“Sometimes road trips are pretty valuable. You have to come together, you’re not playing at home, you’re not sleeping in your own bed. We didn’t play well but we stuck together and that was pleasing.”
Behind the Giants in the standings sit other first round winners, the Appliance Shed Harbour Heat and Century City Wellington Saints.
The Heat blazed to an 80-76 win over the Saints in the season opener on Thursday night at the North Shore Events Centre, while the Saints held off a comeback to beat the Youthtown Auckland Stars 85-81 at ASB Stadium on Saturday night.
2008 Dominion Finance NBL Round One
Thursday, February 28
Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 80 (Oscar Forman 22, Daryl Cartwright 19, Tim Behrendorff 14, BJ Anthony 12) Century City Wellington Saints 76 (Nick Horvath 23, Arthur Trousdell 15, Marquis Webb 11)
1Q: 24-18
HT: 40-31 (16-13)
3Q: 60-52 (20-21)
FT: 80-76 (20-24)
Heat vs Saints Box Score (21KB html)
Saturday, March 1
CPS Nelson Giants 83 (Michael Harrison 19, Chris Daniel 15, Phill Jones 13, Michael Fitchett 13, Jamil Terrell 12, Rowan Gray 11) Marley Canterbury Rams 77 (Jeremy Kench 20, Joe Harrell 16, Luke Ruscoe 11)
1Q: 21-12
HT: 45-38 (24-26)
3Q: 63-56 (18-18)
FT: 83-77 (20-21)
Rams vs Giants Box Score (21KB html)
Century City Wellington Saints 85 (Marquis Webb 27, Nick Horvath 16, Luke Martin 13, Troy McLean 11) Youthtown Auckland Stars 81 (Casey Frank 21, Adrian Majstrovich 16, Reece Cassidy 13, Larry Bratcher 13)
1Q: 20-13
HT: 46-34 (26-21)
3Q: 66-61 (20-27)
FT: 85-81 (19-20)
Stars vs Saints Box Score (21KB html)
Sunday, March 2
CPS Nelson Giants 80 (Jamil Terrell 22, Michael Harrison 20, Michael Fitchett 12, Rowan Gray 11) Cartridge World Otago Nuggets 76 (Jay Anderson 25, Brent Charleton 15, Nat Connell 13)
1Q: 25-17
HT: 44-41 (19-24)
3Q: 59-56 (15-15)
FT: 80-76 (21-20)
Nuggets vs Giants Box Score (21KB html)
