Heat, Giants Lose, Hawks Gain
Tagged in: Competitions, NBL
The Appliance Shed Harbour Heat did the Easy LPG Bay Hawks a favour on the final night of the Dominion Finance NBL regular season.
The Heat’s 87-79 loss to Devon Dynamos Taranaki in New Plymouth on Saturday night opened the door for the Hawks to finish fourth and clinch a home quarterfinal for next Tuesday, against the CPS Nelson Giants.
With the Heat losing on a night of upsets, the defending champion Giants could not rise above fifth even with a win in their season finale and shockingly fell 113-87 to the young Property Brokers Manawatu Jets in Palmerston North.
In the final wash-up, the Century City Wellington Saints (14-4) earned the regular season title, with the Waikato Pistons (13-5) the other team to host a semifinal next week, while the Heat (11-7) held onto third in a tie-breaker with the Hawks (11-7).
The Hawks, who defeated the Giants 90-87 on Friday night in Taradale, will again host Nelson in the first quarterfinal on Tuesday, while the Heat will welcome the sixth-placed Youthtown Auckland Stars on Wednesday night in the third edition of the Battle of the Bridge rivalry in the other quarter.
American shooting guard Keith Salscheider ended his season with 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including five three-pointers, as the Dynamos flipped the form book on the surging Heat.
Taranaki centre Tony Rampton assisted with a monster 18-points and 18-rebounds double-double, while forward Link Abrams added 13 points. Guard Hayden Allen led Harbour with 28 points, while Mika Vukona pulled down 10 boards.
The Dynamos shot 38.5 percent on three-point attempts, well above their season average, while the Heat dropped 25 percent, a week after shooting better than 50 percent clip from distance against the Pistons.
Imports Kantrail Horton and Keith Davis combined for 58 points as the Jets (5-13) stunned the G-Men, perhaps already looking ahead to the playoffs.
A 43-point opening quarter rocked Nelson, trailing by 19 points, and they were only able to get closer than 15 points once, 54-41 soon before halftime, the rest of the game.
Horton finished with 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting, including 9-of-13 beyond the arc, six rebounds and five assists, while Davis had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while four others, led by 15 points from Piers Finch, scored in double digits.
Chris Daniel led the Giants with 18 points and seven rebounds, while former Tall Black Christopher Reay had 16 points and eight ballboards.
In Christchurch, American centre John Whorton had a game-high 22 points and six rebounds as the Marley Canterbury Rams (6-12) inflicted a ninth-straight loss on the Cartridge World Otago Nuggets, 68-63.
Import forward Joey Harrell provided a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds for Canterbury, who trailed by 12 points at halftime to the young and under-manned Nuggets (2-16), but held Otago to just 25 points in the second half.
Nuggets import Antoine Tisby recorded 20 points and 12 rebounds, easily winning the rebounding title, while former junior Tall Black Darryl Jones produced his best numbers of the season, with 19 points and 11 boards.
Dominion Finance NBL Round 15
At TSB Stadium, New Plymouth
Devon Dynamos Taranaki 87 (Keith Salscheider 30, Tony Rampton 18, Link Abrams 13) Appliance Shed Harbour Heat 79 (Hayden Allen 28, Oscar Forman 15, Tim Behrendorff 11)
1Q: 22-25
HT: 45-37 (23-12)
3Q: 68-59 (23-22)
FT: 87-79 (19-20)
Dynamos vs Heat Box Score (21KB html)
At Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North
Property Brokers Manawatu Jets 113 (Kantrail Horton 31, Keith Davis 27, Piers Finch 15, Kaine Hokianga 11, James Paringatai 10, Paul Bristol 10) CPS Nelson Giants 87 (Chris Daniel 18, Christopher Reay 16, Michael Harrison 15, Phill Jones 11)
1Q: 43-22
HT: 61-43 (18-21)
3Q: 86-64 (25-21)
FT: 113-87 (27-23)
Jets vs Giants Box Score (20KB html)
At Cowles Stadium, Christchurch
Marley Canterbury Rams 68 (John Whorton 22, Joey Harrell 14, Gerard Bowden 10) Cartridge World Otago Nuggets 63 (Antoine Tisby 20, Darryl Jones 19, Shaun Tilby 11)
1Q: 12-19
HT: 26-38 (14-19)
3Q: 51-55 (25-17)
FT: 68-63 (17-8)
Rams vs Nuggets Box Score (20KB html)
