Waikato 84 Wellington 79
KEY POINTS:
Pero Cameron last night proved that champions really do stand up when the spotlight is at its brightest.
The 34-year-old Tall Blacks veteran was a talismanic figure as Waikato closed out the National Basketball League finals series with a 84-79 win over Wellington in the capital.
That saw
Waikato secure the best-of-three series 2-0 after they opened with a rousing 95-78 success at Te Awamutu on Tuesday.
With Wellington working overtime to close down American import Jason Crowe, it was Cameron who stepped up to the plate to guide Waikato to their first championship title since 2002.
This week named the league's most valuable player, livewire guard Crowe ran into early foul trouble and was a subdued figure throughout.
But Cameron rallied his side by sinking five of seven three-point attempts to earn them a handy 40-30 halftime lead.
Wellington, who had not lost at home all season, showed the desperation they were expected to bring to the party in the opening quarter and continually hassled the visitors, and Crowe in particular, to edge ahead 18-16.
Waikato hit back emphatically in the second quarter when Crowe was benched due to early foul trouble.
Cameron drove the reversal as Waikato outscored the hosts 24-12 in that quarter, with Wellington's threat being eroded by their heavy reliance on one man, Nick Horvath.
Horvath, the 2.08m centre, never threatened to match his game-high 37 points from Tuesday, and Wellington lost their way as Waikato went on an 11-0 run late in the spell.
Wellington were not helped by the ankle injury picked up by American Ernest Scott in the opening match and it still had an impact tonight as he began the second half with just three points beside his name.
But the home aside hit their straps after the break as Brendon Polyblank got busy and Scott began to move freely as he threw up three three-pointers to see Wellington sneak into the lead.
Wellington shot at better than 50 per cent in the third period to lead 59-56 but Waikato edged in front 67-62 early in the last stanza when Crowe attracted his fourth foul and was immediately benched.
Cameron responded by laying on a classy assist for Prem Krishna to score and leave Waikato leading 75-67 with just four minutes remaining on the clock.
Wellington got back to within four with two minutes to go but Scott then missed two free throws before frenzied action at both ends saw Crowe sink two three throws to ensure Wellington ran out of time.
Cameron, who ended the match with a game-high 20 points, said the result owed much to Waikato's ability to stick together once their trump card Crowe ran foul of officialdom.
"I think Wellington have been the best team all year but these were two games we wanted too," Cameron said.
"I am really happy that we had a team contribution tonight. We lost our MVP tonight but other guys were fantastic for us."
Cameron was helped out on the scoresheet by Brian Wethers with 16 points, Puke Lenden with 15 and Crowe 13.
"We played more the team game."
Wellington's scoring was jointly led by Horvath and Polyblank with 19 each while Luke Martin contributed 13 points, Scott 12 and Lindsay Tait 10.
Losing coach Doug Marty was gracious in defeat.
"I'm really proud of my team. The guys put their hearts out there.
"A couple of rebounds here or there or a couple of shots here or there ... it was a pretty even game."
- NZPA