Morris keeps Rebels afloat
THE Uni Rebels’ destiny is now in their own hands after a convincing 92-74 win over Ansett in men’s Darwin Basketball Association action on Friday night.
The win saw them overtake Ansett in second place on percentages with one round remaining before the playoffs.
Tall forward and star American import Tim Morris was once again the best on court, with 34 points.
His pinpoint passing game also saw him make a handful of assists in traffic.
He combined well with fellow tall forward and American Spencer Coleman, who registered 21 points.
Smaller men Marcus Ch’ng (10 points) and Jake Eyles (11) also chipped in.
And the Rebels’ defence gelled to keep star Ansett import Jerron Jamerson to 23 points.
After holding a 49-37 lead at halftime, Uni skipped clear in the second half.
“We knew if we won this game, we’d move to second,” Morris said. “That puts us in a really good position and we can control our destiny from the top two now.”
The Rebels have now won four straight games.
“We’ve got a couple of good wins in a row. We knocked off (league leaders) Eagles a couple of weeks back,” Morris said.
“That was a good win to start some momentum.”
Youngster Max Davies was outstanding for Ansett, his long reach and athleticism on show as he scored 32 points.
“He had a fantastic game and that’s after the nationals where he got a lot of experience (averaging 16 points a game for the NT under-18s),” Ansett coach Paul Rowse said.
“He got four rebounds, four steals. He averages four steals because of his anticipation and long arms and he’s deceivingly quick.”
The Rebels had a height and body strength advantage through the dominance of Coleman, Morris and Travis Ellis (six points) and more experience across the floor.
“We learnt a few lessons, so when we get our full team back we’ll be confident,” Rowse said.
“We’ve got our three veteran guys to come back – Brad Davis, Matthew Barrett and Mitch O’Donoghue.”
After Palmerston’s 80-69 loss to TV Jets, Lightning kept their finals hopes alive with a 95-61 win over Razzle.
“We always made the extra pass and most of our shots were open three-pointers or open lay-ups,” said star Lightning big man Austin Kisselev, who scored 41 points.
Eagles beat HPP 103-61 on Thursday night.
In Women’s League Challenge action, the first-placed Jets scored a convincing 74-44 win over the second-placed Eagles.
Erin Geer (20 points), Tikesa Docherty-Cole (15), Kylie Duggan (13) and Tania Dhu (12) stood out for the victors.
Carolyn Nyhouse and Ruta Valiulyte (25 points each) fired in Ansett’s 83-61 win over the Rebels.
And Erin Boyd (19 points) helped Razzle to a tight 48-46 win over Lightning.