Big Barrel Hawks American import Darnell Cowart had a player-of-the-game performance against Franklin Bulls in Pukekohe on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
Big Barrel Hawks American import Darnell Cowart had a player-of-the-game performance against Franklin Bulls in Pukekohe on Saturday. Photo / Photosport
The Big Barrel Hawks are flying in all directions as they enter the national basketball league’s third week as high-flyers at the top of the competition with an unexpected 3-1 record after four games.
The Hawks had their first loss in three home games, beaten 93-86 by Otago Nuggets onFriday, but bounced back with a 87-85 away win over previously unbeaten Franklin Bulls in Pukekohe on Sunday.
Also flying are four yet to join the squad – coach Sam Gruggen and three imports who, also on Sunday, completed their Illawarra Hawks’ Australian NBL triumph, a 114-104 win over Melbourne United to seal the finals series 3-2, Illawarra’s first title since 2001.
With Gruggen as assistant coach, the Bay-bound players had varying roles, Wani Swaka Lo Buluk scoring 16 points in 21m 54s on the boards, and Daniel Grida (7m 24s) and Lucas Yates (29 seconds) scoring 2 points each.
The Bay Hawks play Taranaki Airs away on Saturday, franchise manager Jarrod Kenny being unsure on Monday when the quartet will arrive, but saying: “We’ll fly them into New Plymouth if we have to.”
Kenny said the 3-1 record is “definitely what we were after – but we wouldn’t have been too upset if it wasn’t.”
Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.
