Jets snap Rams’ NBL winning streak

Wednesday night proved a graveyard for the NBL Showdown’s unbeaten sides at Trusts Arena in west Auckland, with the Canterbury Rams joining the Otago Nuggets in seeing their perfect start to the season brought to a shuddering halt.

Mick Downer’s Rams were well beaten 108-93 by a well-balanced and sharpshooting Manawatu¯ Jets outfit in Wednesday’s late game, which snapped a three-game win streak for the southerners to open the short Sal’s NBL season.

Both teams shot over 50 per cent from the field, but it was the Jets quartet of Taane Samuels (27 points, 6 rebounds), Jayden Bezzant (25pts, 6 assists, 3 steals), Tom Vodanovich (25pts, 12 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Hyrum Harris (18pts, 9reb, 3stls) that carried them home.

The Manawatu¯ club made a sizzling 15 of 32 3-pointers attempted (46 per cent), with Samuels and Vodanovich accounting for five apiece. They were plus-27 in points from beyond the arc.

Taylor Britt (23 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), Tom Webley (17 points) and Sam Smith (16 points) made major contributions for the Rams, but the Cantabs were second best for most of the night.

The injury-hit Rams were without Toby Gillooly, although were able to give new signing Quintin Bailey a run. The Taranaki native recently returned from four years at college in the States and had an encouraging debut, finishing with 9 points and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes of action.

Samuels found his stride early as the Jets opened proceedings with a 22-16 firstquarter lead.

Rams teenage rookie Mason Whittaker opened the second quarter scoring and when fellow rookie Ben Carlisle-smith got to the basket the Jets’ lead had been all but extinguished.

The battle between arguably the two form point guards in the competition – Bezzant and Britt – was even at the break. The pair had 10 points apiece, but it was Bezzant and the Jets with a 47-43 advantage.

Webley threw down a dunk at the midpoint of the third, but a 3-point reply from Vodanovich pushed the Jets’ buffer to double digits.

Rams coach Downer could sense the game slipping away and called a timeout with his team down 87-71, three minutes into the final frame.

Britt and Alex Talma scored on the resumption, only for Vodanovich and Harris to counter – the Jets leading by 16 with five minutes to play. Back-to-back threes from Samuel and Vodanovich – both had five triples in the game – consigned the 3-1 Rams to their first loss of the season. The Jets are now back on terms at 2-2 on a ladder getting tighter by the night.