Basketball: Pace back to pay back his old team

Whoever made the decision for whatever reasons, must be kicking themselves because it seems cutting loose American import Josh Pace from here two years ago wasn't the slickest move.

Now wearing the Nelson Giants vest, the 29-year-old small forward was the architect of the demise of HBS Bank Hawks on Saturday night with an 88-86 victory in Napier.

"Close but not close enough. That's been the story of our season so far," Hawks point guard Jarrod Kenny lamented after the penultimate Bartercard National Basketball League game at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, Taradale.

"It's a bit disappointing [because] we had them there but the old Hawk Josh Pace came back to haunt us," he said of the wily, left-handed playmaker who scored a match-high 32 points and was a rebound shy of yet another double-double this winter for Nelson who are in the Final Four playoffs at the PG Arena on July 13-14.

"He was outstanding all right. We did a great job on him in Nelson where he only had about eight points but tonight he had 32 so he made up for it," Kenny said, bemoaning crucial turnovers, especially in the final quarter, and, damningly, most were unforced errors.

In 35min 51sec, Pace, who Nelson coach Liam Flynn signed up on the recommendation of ex-Hawk coach Shawn Dennis, stunned the Hawks faithful into silence at crucial times with 14 field goals from 22 attempts and one from outside the arc off two attempts.

The professional from Georgia, who won an NBL title with the Giants in 2007, was lethal off the boards at both ends and drew four fouls but committed only one.

"It's good to be back. I'm still a Hawk in my heart and it's time to move on but I still love the Hawks, though," said a beaming Pace, wiping sweat of his body.

Knowing the Hawks' never-say-die attitude, he had warned his teammates at halftime to brace themselves for the remaining two quarters despite the Tab Baldwin-coached Hawks trailing 56-44.

"I've played here so I know how the Hawks play so I told them [Giants] they were going to make a run and they did so we stayed with them," Pace said, hoping Saturday night's effort would rub off on the playoffs weekend in familiar territory.

The Giants didn't play four quarters against the Wellington Saints on Friday night on the way to Napier so losing another game on the road the next night wasn't an option.

Nelson remain in the equation for the minor premiership bragging rights.

"Hawke's Bay came down to Nelson and dumped on us, as you know, so we wanted to play them well and have a split with teams this year," Pace said.

The Paora Winitana-led hosts edged ahead 68-66 in the third quarter and wrested the lead several times in the final quarter.

Having beaten the Giants at Trafalgar Centre by a double-digit margin, Kenny bemoaned easing the foot off their throat here.

The Hawks, who have abysmally missed the playoffs on their home turf, showed they had the potential to be there but were their own worst enemies.

On Saturday night the defensive rebound disease crept in but they made amends in the second half (25-25) although losing the offensive one, 13-7.

They dominated points in the paint, 40-26, and off the bench, 20-15, but lost points from turnovers, 10-2.

"We can compete with the top-four teams [in the Final Four] but we're always missing a little something or are weak in some area," he said, looking forward to their last game against the Waikato Pistons here this Saturday to thank loyal fans and sponsors with a victory.

Kenny was delighted his game had peaked after injury and illness to provide the Hawks with some impetus as well as, hopefully, catching the eye of selectors for a Tall Blacks recall.

With back-up point guard Aidan Daly injured, he was making the most of the minutes on the floor.

"We're missing Aidan. He's a great player so it's tough not having his energy out there."

Not surprisingly, US import slasher Brian Greene top scored for the Hawks with 19 points and eight rebounds although he was on the brink of fouling out.

A hobbling Everard Bartlett, avoiding the boards, added 17 points while Serb import Darko Cohadarevic scored 14 and claimed seven rebounds.

Kenny contributed 13 points and eight assists while guard Dion Prewster chimed in with 12 points.

Giants Mika Vukona claimed a double-double, scoring 14 points and 10 rebounds.