Wethers Blows Up In Win
Tagged in: NBL
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Former NZ Breaker Brian Wethers made his first appearance in the Dominion Finance NBL a special one.
Wethers scored a season-high 40 points and formed a dangerous combination with fellow American import Jason Crowe as the Waikato Pistons defeated the CPS Nelson Giants 92-80 at the Te Awamutu Events Centre on Thursday night.
The shooting guard was unstoppable in the third, penetrating at will and scoring Waikato’s first 13 points of the quarter as the Pistons stretched their lead out to 14 points at the 4:20 mark.
The Giants, who were unbeaten after a 2-0 opening weekend, hung around as they continued to dominate the boards and closed the gap back to seven points midway through the final quarter.
But ultimately, Wethers and Crowe, who finished with a new franchise record 16 assists, proved too much to handle.
At times Wethers took the Pistons offence on his back, especially in the first and third periods and when the home side needed a basket down the stretch to keep the Giants at arm’s length.
Ray Cameron, younger brother of Tall Black captain Pero Cameron’s, filled the gap left by Ben Hill’s availability, scoring 18 points, including four threes on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, in a cameo performance.
Puke Lenden was the recipient of four straight Crowe assists, scoring all of his 10 points in the second period.
Nelson’s American centre Michael Harrison led his team with 27 points, assisted by Chris Daniel with 14 and import Jamil Terrell and Tall Black Phill Jones with 12, despite a 3-of-17 shooting night.
In the opening minutes, Nelson surprised the Pistons with their intensity from the opening tip, Harrison scoring the first seven points before Waikato coach Murray McMahon brought Crowe and Mike Homik off the bench.
Waikato Pistons 92 (Brian Wethers 40, Ray Cameron 18, Puke Lenden 10)
CPS Nelson Giants 80 (Michael Harrison 26, Chris Daniel 14, Jamil Terrell 12, Phill Jones 12). HT: 47-37
Pistons vs Giants Box Score (21KB html)
