NBL Round 1: Saints lose to Sharks

The Regular Season in NBL just started. Here is the last round review presented by Job Market.

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Saints in Southland on Friday night. Visitors were rolled over by Sharks 117-81. Sharks dominated down low during the game scoring 56 of its points in the paint compared to Saints' 32. They outrebounded Saints 45-26 including a 38-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. Sharks shot the lights out from three sinking 17 long-distance shots on high 73.9 percentage. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 31 assists comparing to just 14 passes made by Saints' players. Forward Dominique Kelman-Poto (201-1994, college: Adelphi) fired a double-double by scoring 18 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists (on 8-of-10 shooting from the field) for the winners. Naturalized American guard Mojave King (196-2) chipped in 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Naturalized Filipino forward Kenneth Tuffin (194-97) produced 21 points for lost side. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Sharks is looking forward to face Jets in Palmerston North in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Saints will play on the road against Nuggets in Dunedin and are hoping to win this game.
Another exciting game was played in Tamatea between Bulls and Hawks where Bulls beat Hawks on the road 74-70. Worth to mention a great performance of power forward Anzac Rissetto (208-1, college: Charlotte) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds (on 9-of-10 shooting from the field). Jayden Bezzant contributed with 12 points and 7 assists for the winners. The former international swingman Ethan Rusbatch (196-92, college: Lincoln Trail) answered with 22 points and 7 rebounds for Hawks. Bulls will play against Sharks in Southland in the next round. Hawks will play on the road against Airs in New Plymouth to get more than just one victory in their record.
Very important is a road loss of Airs against Huskies on Saturday night. Visiting Airs were crushed by Huskies in Auckland 92-59. Chris Johnson stepped up with a double-double by scoring 17 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners. Huskies' coach felt very confident that he used 11 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side Tai Wynyard responded with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Huskies will meet Rams in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Airs will play against Hawks and hope to win that game.

Other games of round 1 were quite predictable and ended without any surprises. Here they are:
winless Nuggets lost to undefeated Giants in Stoke 69-88. Rams beat Nuggets at home 79-75. Winless Airs destroyed Jets on the opponent's court 78-57.
The best stats of 1st round was 25 points and 9 rebounds by Tai Wynyard of Airs.

Giants - Nuggets 88-69

There was no surprise in Stoke where Nuggets were crushed by Giants 88-69 on Thursday. Giants forced 22 Nuggets turnovers. Strangely Nuggets outrebounded Giants 48-35 including 18 on the offensive glass. American power forward Trey Mourning (206-96, college: Georgetown, agency: Interperformances) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 35 points (!!!), 14 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners and swingman Sam Dempster (194-1990) chipped in 10 points and 7 rebounds. Four Giants players scored in double figures. Giants' coach used entire bench which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side the former international power forward Samuel Timmins (211-97, college: Washington) responded with a double-double by scoring 18 points and 17 rebounds and guard Nikau McCullough (190-97, college: St.Mary's, TX) scored 21 points and 5 rebounds. Giants will meet at home Huskies in the next round. Nuggets will play against Saints and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Nuggets: N.McCullough 21+5reb, S.Timmins 18+17reb+3ast, R.Coman 8+1reb+1ast, D.Knox 6+3reb+1ast, B.Matthew 4+5reb, A.Jack 4+6reb
Giants: T.Mourning 35+14reb+4ast, N.Trathen 13+2reb, J.West 12+3reb+3ast, S.Dempster 10+7reb+3ast, B.Jarred 8+1reb, T.Marsh 5+1ast

Sharks - Saints 117-81

The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Saints in Southland on Friday night. Visitors were rolled over by Sharks 117-81. Sharks dominated down low during the game scoring 56 of its points in the paint compared to Saints' 32. They outrebounded Saints 45-26 including a 38-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. Sharks shot the lights out from three sinking 17 long-distance shots on high 73.9 percentage. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 31 assists comparing to just 14 passes made by Saints' players. Forward Dominique Kelman-Poto (201-1994, college: Adelphi) fired a double-double by scoring 18 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists (on 8-of-10 shooting from the field) for the winners. Naturalized American guard Mojave King (196-2) chipped in 23 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Naturalized Filipino forward Kenneth Tuffin (194-97) produced 21 points and guard Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (191-99) added 19 points respectively for lost side. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Sharks is looking forward to face Jets in Palmerston North in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Saints will play on the road against Nuggets in Dunedin and are hoping to win this game.
Top scorers:
Saints: T.Kenneth 21+2reb+3ast, D.Rangimarie 19+2reb, J.Helu 11+3reb+5ast, T.Joshua 10+5reb+1ast, M.Francis 10+7reb+2ast, F.Jermaine 6+2reb+1ast
Sharks: A.Burton 26+6ast, K.Mojave 23+8reb+4ast, D.Kelman-Poto 18+8reb+10ast, B.Inger 14+6reb+2ast, R.Gill 10+13reb+2ast, C.Tom 8+1ast

Rams - Nuggets 79-75

No shocking result in a game in Christchurch where Rams defeated Nuggets 79-75 on Saturday. The former international guard Joe Cook-Green (185-1997, college: TxWes) stepped up and scored 30 points and 7 rebounds for the winners and the former international center Mike Karena (208-1993, college: Wright St.) chipped in 19 points and 8 rebounds. Rams' coach used a ten-player rotation in such tough game. At the losing side Samuel Timmins responded with a double-double by scoring 24 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists and guard Nikau McCullough (190-97, college: St.Mary's, TX) scored 16 points. Rams will meet at home Huskies in the next round. Nuggets will play against Saints and it may be a tough game between close rivals.
Top scorers:
Nuggets: T.Samuel 24+14reb+5ast, N.McCullough 16+3reb+3ast, K.Darcy 10+5reb+5ast, A.Joseph 9+1reb, A.Joshua 7+5reb+1ast, C.Robert 5+2reb+2ast
Rams: J.Cook-Green 30+7reb+2ast, M.Karena 19+8reb+2ast, T.Britt 12+4reb+6ast, A.Hunter 5+7reb+1ast, S.Smith 5+3reb+3ast, I.Kaia 5+1reb

Tuatara - Airs 92-59

Very important is a road loss of Airs against Huskies on Saturday night. Visiting Airs were crushed by Huskies in Auckland 92-59. Huskies dominated down low during the game scoring 62 of its points in the paint compared to Airs' 42. Huskies had a 35-24 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 21 assists. American power forward Chris Johnson (210-85, college: LSU) stepped up with a double-double by scoring 17 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists for the winners and the former international forward Robert Loe (211-91, college: St.Louis) chipped in 17 points and 15 rebounds (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). Five Huskies players scored in double figures. Huskies' coach felt very confident that he used 11 players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. At the losing side the former international power forward Tai Wynyard (208-98, college: Kentucky) responded with 16 points and 6 rebounds and the former international swingman Aaron Bailey-Nowell (196-81) scored 10 points and 6 rebounds. Huskies will meet Rams in the next round, which may be the game of the day. Airs will play against Hawks and hope to win that game.

Hawks - Bulls 70-74

Another exciting game was played in Tamatea between Bulls and Hawks where Bulls beat Hawks on the road 74-70. They outrebounded Hawks 46-35 including 33 on the defensive glass. Worth to mention a great performance of power forward Anzac Rissetto (208-1, college: Charlotte) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 20 points and 11 rebounds (on 9-of-10 shooting from the field). The former international guard Jayden Bezzant (188-96, college: NW Nazarene) contributed with 12 points and 7 assists for the winners. Four Bulls players scored in double figures. The former international swingman Ethan Rusbatch (196-92, college: Lincoln Trail) answered with 22 points and 7 rebounds and the former international guard Derone Raukawa (181-1994) added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists in the effort for Hawks. Bulls will play against Sharks in Southland in the next round. Hawks will play on the road against Airs in New Plymouth to get more than just one victory in their record.
Top scorers:
Hawks: E.Rusbatch 22+7reb, D.Raukawa 16+6reb+7ast, J.Hunt 13+11reb+2ast, Q.Bailey 8+5reb, E.Jack 8+4reb+4ast, D.Albertsen 3+1reb
Bulls: A.Rissetto 20+11reb+1ast, D.Brooke 13+5reb, J.Bezzant 12+1reb+7ast, I.Davidson 12+5reb+1ast, L.Joshua 6+2reb, T.Jett 5+2reb+1ast

Jets - Airs 57-78

Very expected game in Palmerston North where Jets were rolled over by Airs 78-57 on Sunday. Tai Wynyard stepped up and scored 25 points and 9 rebounds for the winners and Benji Freeman chipped in 10 points and 6 rebounds. At the losing side Jacob Collis responded with 12 points (perfect from the field making all six shots) and guard Pafe Momoisea (190-99) scored 2 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Airs will meet at home Hawks in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Jets will play against Sharks and hope to win that game.



Tags : DOMINIQUE KELMAN-POTO, SIT ZERO FEES SOUTHLAND SHARKS, NEW ZEALAND BASKETBALL