Sharks end Saints winning streak
The Wellington Saints’ 705-day, 24-game unbeaten run is over after losing their season-opener to the Southland Sharks.
The Sharks produced a stirring performance on the road to win 113-108 at TSB Bank Arena in Wellington last night.
They had contributions across the board, with seven of the eight players they used scoring double-figure points. Australian import Jarrad Weeks led the way with 29 points.
By contrast, it was a two-man show for the Saints as Shea Ili (32 points, 10 assists) and Jordan Ngatai (26 points and seven rebounds) led the way, but they lacked scoring support from their team-mates through most of the match as foul trouble plagued their supporting crew. Four of their players would foul out in the final four minutes.
Ili seemed to be the only one drawing fouls, as he was infringed on 10 times, shooting 11-13 from the freethrow line.
The Saints had not lost since May 22, 2016 – against the Sharks in Invercargill.
The final quarter had seen six lead changes but the Sharks drew nine points clear with 90 seconds to go to secure the win.
Foul trouble was part of the demise of the Saints.
BJ Anthony, Leon Henry, Majok Majok and LJ Peak all fouled out in the final four minutes, leaving the Saints unable to mount a late comeback.
Earlier, the first quarter saw the Saints get out to a 13-5 lead, before the Sharks slowly clawed them back to trail 31-27 at quarter time. Ngatai and Ili had 24 of Wellington’s firstquarter points, missing just one of 11 shots from the field between them, with the latter scoring 14.
The second quarter saw a comical Sharks debut for Canadian import Conor Morgan. He was subbed on, played for six seconds before the score bench flagged the referees to ask who he was. As it turned out, the Sharks had failed to add him to their team sheet and he was forced to sit back down on the bench, destined to play not further part in the match.
His absence wasn’t too keenly felt as Coleman and Tom Vodanovich continued the Sharks’ fightback as they got their first lead since the opening minute of the game two minutes before halftime.
The Sharks started strong in the third quarter, reaching a seven-point lead with four minutes to go as Jarrad Weeks started to up his game.
The Sharks move to 1-1 after losing their season-opener to Bay Hawks 92-84 on Thursday.