NBL: Hawks rammed in home game against the champions

Teenage Hawks star Jackson Ball (right) tussles with Canterbury player Sean MacDonald in Saturday's NBL match in Taradale, won 110-78 by the Rams. Photo / Michelle Fey

The Hawke’s Bay Hawks have their backs to the wall as they chase a men’s National Basketball League playoff after starting a four-match home run with a loss by 32 points to the defending champions on Saturday.

The Big Barrel Hawks shot their lowest score of the season in being hammered 110-78 on their home court by the table-topping Canterbury Rams at Rodney Green Arenas in Taradale – a franchise the Hawks have not beaten since 2022.

At the business end of a season that saw them the talk of the town in the opening matches, the Hawks have drifted off the top-six places to sit ninth and likely needing at least two wins from their remaining games, all at home, to extend their season.

They take on the Taranaki Airs next Sunday, the Southland Sharks (June 20), the Wellington Saints (June 28) and the Auckland Tuatara (July 5).

The Hawks were never in it on Saturday, not once holding the lead and being down 29-16 at the end of the first quarter, 46-33 at halftime and 78-53 at the end of the third quarter.

Dan Grida (18) and Jackson Ball (16) headed the points on the home scoresheet, featuring eight of the 11 players who hit the boards.

It was a significant test before the squad lose Ball and Kahu Treacher to the Junior Tall Blacks away at their World Championships.

But the basket shots for the best of the bay were below 50%, compared with Canterbury high-scorers Taylor Britt (23pts) and Tohi Smith-Milner (19), and five others who also had 50+ ratios in the Canterbury singlets.

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.