Casey Frank of the Saints goes up for a slam dunk. Photo / Getty Images
Wellington have survived a scare to sew up the National Basketball League minor premiership.
They beat a tigerish Taranaki 107-99 here tonight to seal the regular season title with one match remaining.
But Wellington, defending champions, did it the hard way after trailing the lowly ranked visitors until late in
the closing quarter.
For much of the contest Wellington played second fiddle to Taranaki's potent imports Jack Leasure and 2.14m centre Marcus Campbell, who dominated to give their team the lead at every break except for the last one.
Wellington, already assured of a home semifinal, finally nosed in front with less than three minutes remaining and held their nerve as Taranaki flung everything at them.
Defeat means the quarterfinals are now out of reach for Taranaki, who were more than game against their higher rated opponents tonight.
Wellington's multiple threats ultimately decided the outcome, with four players in double figures, led by point guard Lindsay Tait, who contributed a game-high 27 points, and followed by Corey Webster with 23, Casey Frank 18 and Kareem Johnson 16.
Johnson also pulled down 11 rebounds, the one area where Wellington held the upperhand throughout before edging Taranaki 43-32 in that area.
Leasure, the league-leading scorer and fresh from posting a game-high 31 against Auckland on Wednesday night, sunk 15 of his 26 points in the first half as Taranaki forged a 55-49 advantage.
Campbell, too, threw his imposing frame around to end with 21 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out in the last stanza, an early finish shared by teammate Link Abrams.
- NZPA
