Kisselev strikes to black out the Power

LIGHTNING struck a significant blow in Darwin basketball’s League Men finals race on Friday night, recovering a double-digit deficit to beat Palmerston 87-82.

West Australian Austin Kisselev stepped up in fellow star Craig Martin’s absence to pour in almost half of Lighting’s points with a season-high 43.

They were mostly scored on an array of post moves, but the last of them came on a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left that extended the lead to three points.

The Power failed to return fire at the other end before intentionally fouling Steven Ting, who iced the game from the charity stripe.

But it was a frenetic finish, with Lightning – who trailed by 10 points at various stages in the opening half – opening up a 14-point buffer with fewer than four minutes to go.

Enter Jarrod Sheppard (30 points), who hit two triples and had another classy finish in the lane to inspire Palmerston to a 13-0 run that sent the crowd into a frenzy.

Cameron Bailey snapped Lightning’s drought just in time for Chris Charman’s side to hang on.

The victory gives fifthplaced Lightning a 2-1 edge over the third-ranked Power. They, along with Uni Rebels, all have seven wins, but Lightning have a game in hand.

“We kind of relaxed and they’re a team that can make a comeback in a matter of minutes,” Kisselev said.

“They ran a full-court press, got a few steals, a few threepointers.

“We panicked for a bit, but managed to keep our cool and just use the shot clock and make good plays, hit open shots and managed to come away with the close win.”

Kisselev, who also reached the 40-point plateau against Palmerston in August, is averaging 29.25 points and rated this latest effort his best.

“There were no big expectations on us to win and I did kind of think I’ve got to take a few more shots (with Martin out) since I’m the only guy inside,” he said. “I did and they were going in and I just kept shooting and it was working out. When the team’s playing well, you play well.”

The Rebels celebrated Jamie Hamill’s 700th match with a 92-79 defeat of the Eagles as Jerrell Sanders (26) led the way.

League-leading scorer Alex Fertig had a season-low 12 points for Eagles.

Brad Davis and Jerron Jamerson (25 each) helped Ansett make a 102-57 mess of the struggling TV Jets.