Basketball New Zealand

Harbour’s Ryan Beesley provided a second half spark off the bench as his Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls won the NAIA division two national championship with a 63-56 win over Bellevue (Nebraska) in Missouri.

Beesley, a junior, had 10 points, eight coming in the second half on two three-pointers and a pair of free-throws, as the 11th-seeded Owls upset second-seeded MidAmerica Nazarene in the semifinals and then top-seeded Bellevue in the title game. Beesley had eight points and two rebounds in the semifinal, and finished the national tournament averaging 9.0 points per game.

Gisborne-born Aron Baynes and Harbour’s Tom Abercrombie remain alive in the NCAA Tournament as their Washington State Cougars, coached by two-time NBL All Star Five selection Tony Bennett, advanced to the Sweet 16 in the East regional.

Baynes had 19 points (9-of-9 FG) and rebounds in 28 minutes while Abercrombie played two minutes in a 71-40 first round win over Winthrop. Baynes had six points and 11 rebounds in 23 minutes and Abercrombie played one minute in Wazzu’s 61-41 second round rout of Notre Dame.

The Cougars now face the top-ranked North Carolina Tarheels in the Sweet 16, live on ESPN 12pm Friday (NZ time), for a place in the Elite 8.

Tall Ferns camp invitee Jillian Harmon played 34 minutes in the second-seeded Stanford Cardinal’s first and second round wins in the Spokane region of the women’s NCAA Tournament. Harmon, a junior, had four points and two assists in a 85-47 rout of Cleveland State Vikings and two points, two rebounds and two assists in the 88-54 win over the UTEP Miners, both on their home floor.

Cardinal senior Candice Wiggins scored a school-record tying 44 points in the second round victory, and now Stanford face sixth-seed Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16 on Sunday (NZ time).

The four Kiwis at Lambuth University in Tennessee had their seasons ended in the second round of the NAIA national tournaments last week. Corey Webster had 10 points in a first round win and 14 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals but the Eagles, with Cantabrian Caleb Harrison assistant coach, went down 89-79 to Oklahoma Baptist in the second round.

The Lady Eagles, with Donna Lavea and Melissa Harrison on the roster, defeated Xavier of Louisianna 73-56 in the first round, with Lavea scoring 11 points and seven rebounds, but lost 70-67 to California’s Vanguard University in the second round, ending their national championship defence.

In Europe, Brendon Polyblank had 23 points (8-10 FG, 2-4 3pt, 1-2 FT), seven rebounds and four assists as his BBC Monthey defeated Vevey Riviera Basket 93-70 in the final round of the Swiss Ligue Nationale de Basket. Monthey ended the regular season fourth (14-8), setting a five-game quarterfinal playoff date with fifth-placed Vacallo, starting next week.

Depending on how far Monthey advance in the Swiss playoffs, Polyblank may not be available for the Century City Wellington Saints in the NBL until between late April (quarterfinal exit), mid-May (semifinal exit) or early June (championship series appearance).

Tall Black point guard Mark Dickel had seven points, four rebounds and two assists as his Selcuk University team fell 83-78 to Casa TED Ankara Kolejliler in round 24 of the Turkish Basketball League. The loss dropped Selcuk back to 13th (8-16) and out of the playoff hunt.

While Dickel will miss the playoffs, Tall Black Craig Bradshaw will be in the thick of the post-season when he linkeds with Efes Pilsen (18-6, second) for the rest of the TBL, which has six regular season rounds remaining before the playoffs.

Former Tall Blacks coach Tab Baldwin guided U Mobitelco Cluj Napoca to an 80-78 win over Dinamo-Galean Bucuresti in round 24 of the Romanian division A. The result leaves Napoca third (15-7) as the playoffs approach.