Basketball New Zealand

Harbour's Ryan Beesley and the defending champion Oregon Tech Hustlin' Owls were knocked out in the second round

While quests for national championships ended for two Kiwi basketballers in the US college system last week, it starts for another two this week.

Emerging Tall Blacks Zane Meehl and Mada Abdelhamid will step into action later this week in the first round of the NAIA-D1 national championship in Kansas City, Missouri.

Meehl’s 15th-seeded Azusa Pacific Cougars meet Mid America Nazarene on Thursday, while Abdelhamid’s 16th-seeded Cumberland Bulldogs face Auburn-Montgomery on Wednesday.

Harbour guard Ryan Beesley and Canterbury forward Ben Constable saw their season end in the second round of the NAIA-D2 national championship in Branson, Missouri, last week.

Beesley had five points (2/6 FG, 1/5 3pt) and two rebounds in 15 minutes as Oregon Tech defeated Iowa Wesleyan College 69-47 in the first round on Wednesday, then went pointless (0/1 FG, 0/1 3pt), with two boards and a steal in 13 minutes as the Hustlin’ Owls saw their championship defence end with a 78-64 loss to Bellevue University on Friday, ending the year 29-6.

Constable did not play as Northwood University defeated Sterling, of Kansas, 75-72 in the first round on Thursday and fell 82-66 to Eastern Oregon in the second round on Friday, the Seahawks finishing 27-6.

Tall Blacks Mika Vukona and Nick Horvath became just the second and third New Zealanders to win an Australian National Basketball League title, when the South Dragons clinched the 2008-09 title 102-81 in the game five decider against the Melbourne Tigers on Friday.

Vukona had eight points (4/7 FG) and six rebounds in 18 minutes and Horvath three points (1/1 FG, 1/2 FT) in five minutes as the Dragons completed a worst-to-first turnaround in one season, winning the club’s first ANBL championship in its third season.

Current Tall Blacks video technician and Auckland Stars forward Dillon Boucher was the first Kiwi to win an Aussie title, with the Brisbane Bullets in 2005-06.

NBA pioneer Sean Marks returned from illness to score six points (2/3 FG, 2/2 FT), with a rebound and block in 15 minutes in the New Orleans Hornets 95-84 home loss to the Houston Rockets on Monday.

Marks, who missed the Hornets three-game road trip at Washington, Milwaukee and Chicago with the flu, has now played in 44 games this season for Nawlins, who sit third in the Southwest division and sixth in the Western Conference at 41-25.

In Europe, Tall Blacks coach Nenad Vucinic guided his Estonian club BC Kalev/Cramo to a 96-73 win over Ventspils at home in the final game of the Baltic Basketball League regular season on Saturday.

The win could not propel Kalev into the top two and a direct spot in the semifinals, as second-placed Zalgiris upset regular season champions Lietuvos Rytas 77-75 on the road on Saturday, leaving Kalev in third at 12-6.

Kalev now meet Estonian KML leaders TU/Rock in a three-game quarterfinal series for a place in the semifinals against Zalgiris, with game one scheduled for Tuesday.

Former Tall Blacks forward Brendon Polyblank put up 24 points (8/14 FG, 1/5 3pt, 7/7 FT), six boards and two steals in 40 minutes but could not stop his Lausanne Basket club falling 65-59 to first-placed SAV Vacallo in round 21 of the Swiss LNA on Saturday. Lausanne, sitting eighth at 9-11, will likely meet Vacallo in the first round of the playoffs.

Harbour Heat forward BJ Anthony posted 12 points (5/7 FG, 2/2 FT), seven boards, three assists and a block in 19 minutes in Herzoge Wolfenbuttel’s 103-100 home win over ASC Theresianum Mainz in round 24 of the Bundesliga division two pro B on Saturday.

Wellington Saints forward Leon Henry scored two points (1/3 FG), two rebounds and a steal in 10 minutes in Tab Baldwin’s U Mobitelco Cluj-Napoca’s 91-70 road win over CSM Leonardo Oradea in round 26 of the Romania Divizia A on Saturday.

He had no points (0/1 FG, 0/1 3pt) and two assists in seven minutes in an 88-65 home win over CSU Craiova in round 25 on Wednesday as Cluj improved to third at 17-7.

Tall Blacks centre Craig Bradshaw sat out Grupo Begar Leon’s 75-73 home win over Plus Pujol Lleida on Saturday in round 24 of the LEB Gold in Spain on Saturday. Leon remained ninth at 13-11.