Tough initiation for Huskies

The Southern Huskies’ debut weekend in the New Zealand National Basketball League yielded one win and two losses.

The Tasmanian outfit were outclassed for the second-straight game yesterday when losing 105-95 to the Hawke’s Bay Hawks in Napier.

That followed their 87-60 thrashing at the hands of 10-time champions Wellington Saints on Friday, while they scored a tight 100-99 win over the winless Manawatu Jets in their first game on Thursday.

Their first sojourn into the competition has been a tough one, with a lot of travel by air and road. They even travelled from Napier to Palmerston North on Sunday night as they could not find suitable accommodation in Hawke’s Bay due to Easter.

Yesterday’s match saw the Hawks led expertly by Ethan Rusbatch, who continued his hot start to the season with 33 points on 12-17 shooting, including 7-12 of his three-pointers. He was ably supported American import Shaquille Thomas and his double-double of 22 points on 10-19 shooting and 10 rebounds. Edward Singler and Everard Bartlett also chipped in with 22 (9-12) and 14 (5-8) points while point guard Jarrod Kenny had 15 assists and 10 rebounds.

Those accurate shooting stats showed in their overall team shooting percentage of 52 per cent, with 44 per cent from beyond the arc.

The Huskies shot reasonably well as well, with 47 per cent from the field and 34 per cent of their three-pointers, but their defence let them down.

The Huskies had just nine travelling players, with three of their starters playing more than 38 minutes. Jalen Billups was their best with 32 points on 13-18 shooting with 15 rebounds, while Freddie Nicholls (26 points) and captain Craig Moller (13 points, 14 rebounds) were also solid contributors.

In the weekend’s other results, the Southland Sharks beat the Nelson Giants 100-91, while the Canterbury Rams hammered the Supercity Rangers 91-68.

There will be an Easter Monday match between the Taranaki Mountainairs and Rams to end week two’s matches.