By MURRAY McKINNON
North Harbour kept their playoff chances alive with a much-needed win over the Palmerston North Jets 102-90 in the National Basketball League.
"I told them what I wanted as a present, and they came with a lot of guts and determination in the second half," said North
Harbour coach Tracy Carpenter, who was proud of his team's performance.
Harbour started well in the first quarter, completely dominating the boards, and with Tall Black Paora Winitana and Aaron Olson regularly chiming in, the team enjoyed a commanding lead of 27-15.
However in the next quarter, Darron Larsen, with just nine minutes of court time, carved his way through the North Harbour defence.
The 29-year-old, 1.76m guard scored 19 points in quick succession to drag the Jets back into the game.
Larsen unleashed a sustained attack, charging into everything, including climbing into a courtside corporate box while diving to make a steal.
North Harbour had a 52-50 halftime lead, but by outscoring the Jets 27-19 in the third quarter, gave themselves a cushion and John Smith and Winitana carried them on to victory.
Winitana and Olson top-scored - both on 23 - with Smith finishing up with 21 as well as 14 rebounds.
Larsen was the best for Palmerston North with 24 points.
Kent Mori was on 19 and Clifton Bush held to only 18 from a possible 35.
North Harbour and Palmerston North are fourth on the national league table.
Harbour have a bye next week before embarking on three crucial home games against top-ranked Nelson, Canterbury and Waikato.
Wellington Saints slumped to yet another loss, going down to the Canterbury Rams on their home court, 114-89. Terrence Lewis with 27 and John Whorton on 22 did the damage for Canterbury.
Otago inflicted a dent in Jeff Green's Waikato side with an upset victory 90-79 in Dunedin.
Waikato led 43-42 at halftime, but an outstanding fourth quarter, led by American import Ron Grady, had Otago outscoring the Titans by 10.
This is the second season that Otago have beaten the league champions at home.
