The Manawatu Jets suffered another loss at Arena Manawatu last night, taking on the Nelson Giants in Palmerston North as part of the National Basketball League season. It was a strong performance by the Giants who were in control for the majority of the game and won 105-88.
The game got off to a slow start for the Jets, who took three minutes to get a score on the board. At the end of the first quarter the team was down 19-25. A solid performance in the second quarter saw the Jets score 24 points to the Giants' 18 points, tying the game 43 all at half time.
In the third quarter the Jets managed to take the lead, but it could not be maintained. Missed shots and mistakes by the home team saw the Giants lead by 17 points at the end of the quarter.
From that point the Jets were unable to recover. In the fourth quarter both teams scored 26 points, but the Jets needed to put a lot more points on the board to have a shot at winning.
The Jets shooting was at 43 percent for field goals, compared with the Giants' 51 percent. The home team also struggled at the free throw line, shooting at 52 percent against the Giants' 88 percent.