Basketball New Zealand

Mika Vukona (Photosport)

Tall Blacks Mika Vukona and Craig Bradshaw both flirted with double-doubles as Gold Coast Blaze defeated the fast-finishing Melbourne Tigers in the Australian NBL.

The Blaze needed overtime to finally quell their visitors 99-91, boosting their record to 14-10 and holding on to second on the competition table.

Vukona had 12 points (4/6 FG, 2/2 3pt, 2/4 FT), nine rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 23 minutes, while Bradshaw compiled 10 points (3/10 FG, 1/1 3pt, 3/4 FT), eight rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes.

In the Australian WNBL, Tall Fern Natalie Purcell managed two double-figure scoring performances, but couldn’t inspire Logan Thunder to victory on their road trip to Sydney and Canberra.

Purcell, who married Queensland Reds rugby flanker Ezra Taylor over Christmas, led Logan with 18 points (6/14 FG, 3/6 3pt, 3/3 FT), five rebounds and four assists in a 66-89 loss to Sydney University Flames.

She also had 11 points (4/10 FG, 1/4 3pt, 2/2 FT), five rebounds and two steals in a 62-82 loss to defending champions Canberra Capitals as the Thunder fell to 6-14 for the season.

In Germany, Tall Black forward BJ Anthony almost had a double-double for Herzoege Wolfenbuettel in their 86-78 win over SU Medien. He challenged the statisticians with his 15 points (6/15 FG, 3/5 FT), nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 31 minutes as Wolfenbuettel improved to 8-10 in the Pro B league.

In US college basketball, Tall Fern Micaela Cocks had 24 points (7/16 FG, 1/4 3pt, 9/11 FT), three assists, two rebounds and two steals as University of Oregon broke a five-game losing streak with an 85-77 win at University of Southern California.

The Ducks improved to 13-8 for the season, 4-5 in Pac-10 Conference play.

Ferns guard Erin Rooney had 12 points (5/9 FG, 1/5 3pt, 1/2 FT), three rebounds, an assist and a steal in 30 minutes as Monmouth University lost 50-65 to Bryant University, falling to 10-11 for the season and 5-5 in the Northeast Conference.