Sharks beat Saints in NBL thriller

The Southland Sharks have beaten the Wellington Saints 95-87 in an overtime National Basketball League thriller at ILT Stadium Southland in Invercargill.

It was a early season roundrobin showdown but it played out like a dramatic final.

The Southland crowd was left a little subdued early in the game when Wellington shot out to a 10-2 lead before coach Judd Flavell indicated enough was enough and called a time out.

However, the Saints onslaught didn’t ease as they pushed out further to a 15-2 lead before Southland finally got into the game.

Southland reduced it to 15-13 and then down 23-17, with seconds ticking in the first quarter, James Paringatai landed a three on the buzzer to make 23-20 to Wellington at the break.

It was a former Shark in Leon Henry who did the bulk of the damage for the Saints in the first quarter scoring 11 points which included three from three from three point land.

Southland hit the lead briefly in the second quarter when they were 27-25 up but by halftime Wellington were back in front at 39-35.

The Sharks’ American import Jordair Jett put his mark on the third quarter with a 11 point haul. It included three three-pointers in quick session early in the quarter as Southland pushed out to a 48-44 lead at one stage.

By the end of the quarter though Wellington had regained the lead at 57-55.

The two teams traded points in the final quarter and both teams had the chance late in normal time to snatch the win but it was all locked up at 74-74 sending the game into overtime.

Southland had the momentum late in normal time and it continued into overtime as they grabbed the 95-87 win.

The Sharks now eye two games on the road at the weekend.

They will play the Super City Rangers in Auckland on Saturday night before travelling to Napier to play Hawke’s Bay on Sunday.

For the Saints they have little time to reflect on the outing in Invercargill as they play the Canterbury Rams in Christchurch on Friday night.