Basketball: Aston runs amok in Hawks last home game

ON FIRE: Luke Aston shows his three-point prowess. PHOTO/Warren Buckland

Hawks 83 Rams 74 PG Arena, Napier

It like an icebox at the Pettigrew-Green Arena so logic suggested the Canterbury Rams should have felt at home last night.

But it was the IMS Payroll Hawks who had ice running through their veins for the best part as they won 83-74 to rob the visitors of any fleeting chance they had of keeping their Final Four hopes alive in the Bartercard National Basketball League (NBL) match in Napier.

"I think we just moved the ball really well and we played with effort, so that helps," Luke Aston said of the Hawks, who are playing for a best finish of fifth in the NBL in a season that promised a lot but went awry amid some turbulence.

"We have two more games this weekend to take care of so, hopefully, we'll be in fifth place," said the shooting guard, who claimed a game-high 32 points and plucked six off the glass in the Hawks' last game on their patch, after the game was postponed from Sunday afternoon because the Rams were stranded in Whanganui due to flooding.

"My teammates brought me over the line.

"They did all the hard work and the ball just went in," said Aston, who nailed 7/11 from downtown and 9/14 from field goals.

The Hawks started with a hiss and a roar to lead 11-1, before the Cantabrians clawed their way back to trail 24-16 at the hooter.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Rams took the lead, 30-29, with some defence as astute coach Mark Dickel patiently went back to doodling his points across.

At halftime, the Jarrod Kenny-led Hawks surged to 51-36 (29-20), as the Southerners could not maintain the intensity.

In the third spell, the sides tied 16-16 after the hosts went off the boil in the first few minutes, although all parties did a better job of putting up the cyclone shutters.

The Rams got within five points in the final fling but catch-up hoop is often a poor recipe at the best of times.

It was player-cum-coach Paora Winitana's second victory since the Hawke's Bay franchise sacked Australian Liam Flynn last month.

"We had a good start because that's what we've been trying to work on. But one thing we need to tidy up is keeping that lead and pushing it out," said Aston, who is in his debut season with the Hawks.

The former Otago Nuggets player said everything was beginning to click into place under the new regime.

Kenny, named in the Tall Blacks trials with Bay-born ex-Hawk Everard Bartlett plying his trade in Australia, scored 12 points, while Anamata Haku added 11.

The Hawks aim to end their season on a high on the road against Nelson Giants and the Rangers on Friday/Saturday.

Canterbury Rams coach Mark Dickel was in no mood to talk but a smiling Marques Whippy said it was simply not to be.

"We did have a slow start and wished we could come back but our shots weren't falling so some days you have those games and today was that game," Whippy said, after their loss ensured Waitakere Rangers were safe in the knowledge they don't need to win a game to keep their berth with the Nelson Giants, Southland Sharks and Wellington Saints in the playoffs.

"We wanted to compete ... but relying on Auckland to lose is not really what you want but that's how things turned out to be," said the Fijian professional forward who scored a team-high 17 points, collected five rebounds and made four assists off the bench for the Rams.

Whippy, who followed Dickel from the defunct Otago Nuggets this NBL season, said there was always next year to take care of unfinished business after learning from their mistakes.

"But we can't keep making those same mistakes," said the former Brigham Young University of Hawaii player who is recovering from a torn Achilles.

"The big one we made tonight was effort. We didn't get back on defence to shut down their shooters when we needed to," Whippy said, before preparing to finish on a high note in Christchurch this Saturday against the Pero Cameron-coached Saints.