A dominant second half has propelled the Wellington Saints to a thrilling 88-83 grand final win over the Southland Sharks to clinch their 13th National Basketball League title in Wellington.
It’s the Saints’ first National Basketball League (NBL) title since 2021 and their first under coach Aaron Young, who hassuffered defeat in the past three title deciders with the Auckland Tuatara.
The Sharks threw everything they had at the Saints, but the experience of Wellington’s players played a pivotal role in their win, led by Hyrum Harris, who finished with a game-high points and 14 rebounds and was named grand final MVP.
Saints forward Jordan Ngatai, who scored 19 points, dedicated the win to former coach Kevin Braswell, who passed away earlier this year, aged 46, after having emergency heart surgery in Japan.
“I want to take a shout-out to the Braswell family, he was a big part of both these franchises,” Ngatai told Sky Sport.
“I know that he’s watching now, watching a hell of a game. He’s going to be proud and I hope the Braswell family is proud and we’re just sending our love to him.”
For the Sharks, they can holdg their heads high after they exceeded expectations to reach the final.
Hyrum Harris is defended by Josiah Allick. Photo / Photosport
Last season, Southland finished second-to-last with four wins, but this season, they brought in highly touted American coach Jonathan Yim, who played a pivotal role in their turnaround.
The Sharks started the better of the two sides and held a seven-point lead after five minutes, only for the hosts to fight back and level the match at the end of the first quarter.
The visitors managed to wrestle back control of the game and led 44-41 at halftime.
The third quarter proved to be crucial as the Saints came out firing and wrestled back control of the game to lead 67-60 heading into the final 10 minutes.
Errors started creeping into the Sharks’ game with turnovers and offensive fouls and the Saints made them pay, leading by as many as 13 points, but the visitors refused to budge and eventually reduced the deficit to four points.
But Saints guard Nick Marshall came up with three key offensive rebounds in the final three minutes that all led to second-chance points and ultimately another championship for Wellington.
The Saints did a great job in containing NBL MVP Josiah Allick, who scored 15 points off nine shots.
In terms of active franchises, the Saints have won the most championships in NBL history with 13, followed by the Canterbury Rams with six.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
