Homegrown talent Kobe Kara and Campbell Scott, recruited at the start of the season from Manawatū, in Saturday's Hawke's Bay Hawks Sal's NBL win over Otago Nuggets in Dunedin. Photo / Louise Emanuel.
Homegrown talent Kobe Kara and Campbell Scott, recruited at the start of the season from Manawatū, in Saturday's Hawke's Bay Hawks Sal's NBL win over Otago Nuggets in Dunedin. Photo / Louise Emanuel.
Two three-pointers from new recruit Campbell Scott in less than a minute in the last quarter nailed it for the Big Barrel Hawke’s Bay Hawks as they completed the second of two Sal’s NBL wins in the deep south at the weekend.
Teetering after a home defeat by 16 pointsagainst Nelson Giants in Taradale on May 16, the Hawks had beaten Southland Sharks 97-90 in Invercargill on Thursday before Saturday’s 98-92 come-from-behind win over Otago Nuggets.
The victory kept the Hawks in top-six playoff contention at the end of the 10th weekend, in 5th place, with seven matches to play.
The Nuggets led 24-18 at the end of the first quarter and 53-47 at halftime, but with the scores tied 72-72 going into the last quarter, Scott, 21, became the hero of the night with the three-pointers taking the Hawks into a lead they maintained for the remaining seven minutes.
Acquired after playing in all 20 NBL games and 13 Rapid League matches for home-franchise Manawatū Jets last year, Scott finished with 18 points in the game.
Dan Grida playing for the Hawks in Saturday's Sal's NBL match against Otago Nuggets, his 20 points taking him to 51 from the victorious two-match, three-day venture in the deep south. Photo / Louise Emanuel.
Dan Grida shot 31 points against the Sharks and 20 points against the Nuggets, where the starting five were all among the points, including Jackson Ball with 20 to follow-up the 21 he had in Invercargill.
It was also a big trip for the Hawks in the shorter-form Rapid League, with wins by 28-22 over the Sharks and 42-31 over the Nuggets to elevate themselves to 5th place in the support league.
The Hawks now face another southern double against league leaders and 2023 and 2024 champions, the Canterbury Rams, in Christchurch and the last away match of the regular season against Nelson Giants in Nelson over King’s Birthday weekend.
They beat the Rams in the pre-season Blitz tournament in the South Island, but haven’t beaten the glamour franchise in the league since 2022.
They then have five home matches in a row heading to the playoffs in July.
Ahead of the Hawks on the league ladder are Canterbury Rams, Wellington Saints, Taranaki Airs and Manawatu Jets.
The Hawks’ remaining games are: May 31, Canterbury (away); June 2, Nelson Giants (away); June 7, Canterbury (home); June 15, Taranaki (home); June 20, Southland (home); June 28, Wellington (home); July 5, Auckland Tuatara (home).
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.
