The Taylor Hawke's Bay Hawks backed up their dramatic win in Christchurch with a professional job at the Trafalgar Centre on Saturday evening to come out victorious over the Mike Pero Nelson Giants 82-73.
With Sal's NBL top scorer Trey Mourning a late scratch with illness, the Hawks dominated the rebound count as the Giants were lacking the size to compete with Tajuan Agee and Jordan Hunt. Derone Raukawa and Jarrod Kenny fared better than most have against the tenacious backcourt of Alex McNaught and Jarrod West, although the latter made some big plays that had the Giants leading at half time and 3 quarter time.
The Hawks game-plan to dump the ball into Agee and Hunt turned the game their way in their fourth quarter, with some big plays from Raukawa keeping the Giants ultimately at bay.
Mick Downer's team join the Nuggets at the top of the ladder with 5 wins, while the Giants sit mid ladder with a 3-2 record.
SCORE: Giants 73, Hawks 82
Giants: West 27pts, 7reb, 6ast | Dempster 13pt, 8rebs
Hawks: Agee 19pts, 10reb | Raukawa 19pts | Rusbatch 14pts, 9reb
Full box score HERE.
Stuff MVP Votes
Tajuan Agee (Hawks) - 10 votes
Jarrod West (Giants) - 8 votes
Derone Raukawa (Hawks) - 6 votes
Hyrum Harris (Hawks) - 2 votes
Ethan Rusbatch (Hawks) - 2 votes
Sam Dempster (Giants) - 2 votes
Upcoming Opponents
Giants - Jun 2 @ Southland Sharks
Hawks - Jun 4 vs. Auckland Tuatara
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Round 5 Sal's NBL Schedule
