Hawks bag NBL Nuggets on first night of southern raid

Imported player Ira Lee, who scored 24pts as the Hawks returned to winning form in Dunedin on Friday, pictured in the Hawks loss to Nelson Giants in Napier last weekend. Photo / Paul Taylor.

The Taylor Bay Hawks arrested their national basketball decline in dramatic fashion with a single-point win over leaders the Otago Nuggets on Friday night in Dunedin.

In the first of two games in two nights in the deep south, the Hawks won 95-94, bouncing-back from successive heavy defeats against Auckland Tuatara, 106-75 in Auckland on May 14, and 94-78 against Nelson Giants on the home Pettigrew Green Arena court in Taradale last Sunday.

It was just the second win for the Hawks since the high-flying 2023 Sal’s NBL start of two wins at Eastern, pushing them at least momentarily back into the top six with a record of four wins (all away from home) and six losses (including all four at home) going into a Saturday-night match against the Southland Sharks in Invercargill.

Top of the charts on Friday night was sole American import Ira Lee, with a match-winning turn-around two-point jump shot with just 3.2 seconds left on the clock. He finished with 24pts, shooting 11 of 17 from the field.

The Nuggets, for whom Michael Harris scored the match-high of 31pts, led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter, and 45-41 at the end of the second, in which the lead was twice stretched to nine points, but, pulling back from nine-down again in the third quarter, the Hawks led 63-62 entering the final 10 minutes.

Derone Raukawa shot 16pts and Jordan Hunt 15, including three three-point successes from five attempts.

Todd Withers shot 25 for the Nuggets, meaning the losing home side had the two top scorers.

Following the Hawks’ match against Southland, the Hawks play Canterbury Rams in Christchurch next Saturday, in each match aiming to avenge home losses earlier in the season, and return to the PGA on June 10 to play Franklin Bulls, hoping to make it both two-from-two against the side they beat in the opening match of the season in Pukekohe, and the first home win of the season.

Hawks results this season: v Franklin Bulls (away) won 84-79, v Wellington Saints (away) won 88-74, v Taranaki Airs (home) lost 93-95, v Canterbury Rams (home) lost 103-110, v Southland Sharks (home) lost 89-97, v Manawatu Jets (away) lost 88-93, v Taranaki Airs (away) won 102-93, v Auckland Tuatara (away) 75-106, v Nelson Giants (home) lost 78-94, v Otago Nuggets (away) won 95-94.