Basketball: Hawks hit by Henare's departure

Auckland will take over favouritism for the National Basketball League title after Hawks point guard Paul Henare's departure for Turkey, but yesterday the Giants showed that Auckland are not unbeatable with a 90-78 win in Nelson.

Imports Josh Pace (29 points) and Eric Freeman (24) led the scoring for the home side, while Casey Frank and Lindsay Tait were the best of the visitors with 17 apiece.

The Giants led all the way after a fast start for a 26-14 first-quarter lead. They and the Stars now have two wins from three, while the Hawks have had an untroubled start with four-from-four despite a shortened roster, Henare gone and A.J. Majstrovich and Willie Burton injured at the weekend.

Waikato are the enigma of the league. Their coach Tim McTamney missed the loss to North Harbour at the weekend, but was surprised at the ineffectiveness of their imports.

Waikato struggled at the North Shore Events centre on Saturday night with captain Hayden Allen leading the Heat to a 91-victory, Troy McLean scoring 23 and Canadian Mike King 20, against a Pistons side that lacked power.

Waikato import Massiah was missing in action, no points and just three rebounds in 24 minutes, while collecting four fouls. The Heat out-shot the Pistons 50 per cent to 41 per cent and after going on a 30-15 run in the second quarter were never threatened.

The Hawks completed a successful southern double at the weekend. They beat Otago 91-82 in Dunedin, the Nuggets relying heavily on former Tall Black Miles Pearce (28 points) and import Nate Connolly (25) as they cut back the Hawks.

The Hawks were three down in strength on Friday in Dunedin and for the 90-78 win over the Rams in Christchurch on Saturday. The Nuggets used 10 players and the Rams used 11 to the Hawks' eight, but fatigue did not become a factor for the visitors.

Their imports again scored highly, Field Williams shooting 20 in Dunedin and 27 in Christchurch, Kareem Johnson getting 20 in Dunedin and 21 in Christchurch.

The Rams too relied on their imports with Dennis Trammell scoring 19 and Sam Spann 17.

On Friday night the Stars dumped the Saints 106-84 in Wellington, five players getting into double figures and the home team collapsing after a player from each side was ejected from the game.

Auckland had been 14 points down in the second quarter, with the Saints on a 10-0 run, when rival forwards Daryl Cartwright and Brendon Polyblank were put out of the game after some push-and-shove.

By half time the Stars had closed to 48-43. In the third quarter they made a run of 25-2, with Lindsay Tait getting 12 of those as he amassed 28 for the game. He shot nine of 13 from the field, four of eight three-pointers as well as taking five steals in a game-winning show. Casey Frank scored 18, imports Brock Gillespie 15 and Josh Nigut 14. Reece Cassidy shot 14 and Tall Black Dillon Boucher 10.

Veteran Terrence Lewis, was best for the Saints with 23 points as they robbed themselves of any chance of a win with 27 turnovers.