The Wellington Saints have already booked their ticket to the Sal's NBL Final 4, but they are now just one win away from locking in the top seed after scoring an impressive 103-80 win over the Property Brokers Manawatu Jets.
The Jets showed some good signs early and really came out in an attacking frame of mind, but it didn't take long for the visiting Saints to find their groove, and their stroke from beyond the arc.
As the minutes whittled away over an entertaining first half played in front of a capacity crowd, the Saints showed their relentless prowess at both ends of the floor, especially on the boards where they dominated the smaller Jets.
Kerwin Roach, Taane Samuel and Tohi Smith-Milner all saw plenty of the action, while some stirring cameos from Troy McLean and Ezra Vaigafa proved too much for the Jets to handle.
By the half the Saints had moved to a 60-45 advantage and they were never headed from that point.
A further blow for the Jets came midway through the second quarter when DeAndre Daniels copped a stinger to his shoulder after a heavy collision with a stationary Smith-Milner, which resulted in the American forward missing the entire second half.
The Jets did show some fight though, especially Daishon Knight and Jayden Bezzant, but across the court the young and inexperienced troops beside them were no match for the Saints machine.
Wellington Saints 103 defeated Manawatu Jets 80 - BOXSCORE
SAINTS: Taane Samuel (23pts), Kerwin Roach (20pts, 7ast), Tohi Smith-Milner (20pts), Troy McLean (11pts).
JETS: Daishon Knight (30pts), Jayden Bezzant (25pts).
Stuff MVP Votes
Taane Samuel (Saints) 8
Daishon Knight (Jets) 7
Kerwin Roach (Saints) 6
Tohi Smith-Milner (Saints) 5
Jayden Bezzant (Jets) 4
(Photo Credit: PhotosportNZ)
