Southland Sharks topple Rams
A strong final quarter has given the Southland Sharks a 105-94 win over the Canterbury Rams in National Basketball League action in Invercargill.
The Sharks dominated the first half, but an amazing comeback by the Rams in the third quarter made for an exciting conclusion.
The Judd Flavell-coached Sharks opened the game with nine unanswered points as the Rams couldn’t buy a bucket initially.
The home team extended their lead to 14-2 on the back of some strong defence.
The Sharks fed off Canterbury Rams mistakes and held a 16-5 lead four minutes into the first quarter with the points shared around their players.
The Rams continued to look to their outside shooters to get them back into the game and reduced the score to 18-10.
The Sharks stretched the lead to 24-12, before going into the first quarter break 32-19 ahead.
Duane Bailey and Luke Aston bagged three pointers as the Sharks found their shooting from three point range to take them to a big 51-30 lead after six minutes of the second quarter.
The Rams ate into the deficit with an 11-point run just before halftime to make it 51-41 as they started sinking their shots.
The Sharks went into halftime with a 58-46 lead, with the Sharks hitting 53 percent of their field goals, compared with the Rams who had 17/42 for 40 per cent from the field.
McKenzie Moore had a rough start in his first game back for the Rams with 1/7 in the first half, while Marcel Jones had a game high 12 points in the first two quarters.
Whatever coach Mark Dickel said to the Rams at halftime seemed to spark them into action.
The Rams started the second half strongly and worked their way back into the game.
They reduced the deficit to six points, 64-58 after four minutes of the third quarter and then 64-61, before the Rams closed the gap to two points 67-65.
The Sharks started missing three point shots, before reverting to their strong game inside to briefly extend their lead, until the Rams came back to reduce to level the scores with a Jeremy Kendle three pointer late in the third quarter.
Southland got back into the lead early in the fourth quarter and raced to an 83-77 lead.
The Sharks managed to stay in front for the rest of the quarter to record a hard fought victory.
Rams guard Marcel Jones left the game with an injury with three minutes to go after scoring 29 points, while Kendle grabbed 27 points for the Rams.
The Rams have a short turnaround before playing the Mountain Airs on Sunday, while the Sharks host the Hawks on Thursday night.
Meanwhile Corey Webster has made up for lost time with an emphatic shooting performance in the Wellington Saints' win over the Supercity Rangers.
The shooting guard rested a back injury for the Saints' last win, on Anzac Day, but returned on Friday at TSB Bank Arena to again steal the show.
He scored a game-high 37 points on 15-24 shooting, while also providing six assists in the 98-87 win. Tai Wesley (17 points, six rebounds) and Josh Duinker (12 points, 12 rebounds) continued their impressive seasons.