The Wellington Saints led from the get-go to the let-go in a highlight laden, if one sided, clash in the capital over the EnviroNZ Franklin Bulls, sealing a 111-82 to win to stay unbeaten.
A lot of the talk pregame was around how the Saints would defend Bulls import duo Josh Selby and Zane Waterman… the answer… well. Kenneth Tuffin and Kerwin Roach made sure Selby was quiet until the game was out of reach, while Waterman cut a frustrated figure under the defensive pressure of Tohi Smith-Milner and Taane Samuel.
Saints coach Zico Coronel opted to start Tuffin instead of import centre Romaro Gill, and Gill responded with a dominant performance off the bench, finishing with 17pts and 6 rebounds, and a seemingly never-ending supply of dunks.
Not to be outdone in the throwdown category, Player of the Game Kerwin Roach had too emphatic jams much to the delight of the Saints crowd, while Dion Prewster again recovered from a slow first half to notch up 13 points, two of which came from the one-handed world-ender. The dunk of the day however, belonged to the impressive Dane Brooks of the Bulls, who put Tohi Smith-Milner on a poster when the game was already out of reach.
Brooks and Jett Thompson were shining lights for the Bulls in a game that was all but decided by midway through the third, and was over when Josh Selby was ejected for a combination of technical and unsportsmanlike fouls. The night belonged to the still unbeaten Wellington Saints, who look more unstoppable every time they take the floor.
Wellington Saints (111) beat Franklin Bulls (82) - BOXSCORE
Saints: Kerwin Roach 22pts 9rbs 5ast, Romaro Gill 17pts 6rbs, Tohi Smith-Milner 14pts 4rbs 3stl
Bulls: Josh Selby 16pts 4ast, Dane Brooks 16pts
Game Highlights
Stuff MVP Votes
Kerwin Roach (Saints) 10pts
Dane Brooks (Bulls) 6pts
Romaro Gill (Saints) 5pts
Tohi Smith-Milner (Saints) 4pts
Dion Prewster (Saints) 3pts
Zane Waterman (Bulls) 1pt
Jett Thompson (Bulls) 1pt
(Photo Credit: PhotosportNZ)
