Feb 21 2016
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ANBL, NZ Breakers

Demopolous gracious in defeat after loss to Breakers

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“This is our first time in this kind of rodeo together”

From Murray McKinnon

Melbourne United head coach Dean Demopolous was philosophical and gracious in his reflections on the game in the post-match interview following the SKYCITY Breakers 2-0 sweep of Melbourne on Saturday.

“It was a hotly contested game and I’m just really proud of my guys man,this is our first time at this kind of rodeo together. It was a hotly contested game and I’m just really proud of my guys man. Eight new players, this group here (Breakers) has been through it before and they’re an excellent basketball team, they deserve the word champion to be by their names they earn it they talk it and they walk it, give them credit they’re better than us right now.”

“We aspire to be like them we’d like to hang up four out of five years champion banners, and they’ve got an excellent chance to make it five out of six in my opinion, but my team set a bar and a standard for this new franchise and their city embraced them, fans embraced them, ownership management embraced them, they took me on a hell of a ride and I’m appreciative of the opportunity that ownership and management gave me to spend a lot of time with a group of guys like this it’s one of the best group people I’ve ever been around and they made me better and we feed off each other and we’re going to try to come back stronger and better for it.”

“We congratulate New Zealand and wish them all the best going forward, in fact I’m rooting for them,” said Demopolous.

Chris Goulding who top scored with 23 points for Melbourne said that it hurt not making the final.
“We tried as hard as we could, but probably didn’t play our best game.”

“Where ever we finished at the end of the regular season, it doesn’t change how much this hurts so I wouldn’t say we were a dominant team all year we fought some massive games out to get and put ourselves in the best position possible which we did but at the end of the day that still wasn’t good enough. New Zealand hit their straps at the right time, they’re playing very good basketball,” said Goulding.

Feb 16 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks

Tall Blacks prominent in NBL play-offs

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Jarrod Kenny has helped steer Perth to the play-offs for a 30th consecutive season.

There is New Zealand representation in all four teams contesting the semi-finals of the NBL this week with the pair of games on Friday sorting out the top four from the also-rans.

 In Illawarra the Hawks did the Breakers a huge favour by eliminating the Adelaide 36ers from play-off basketball on Friday. The Hawks, aided by 13 points from Kirk Penney, won 106-95 and locked in third place for good measure.

Earlier in the evening the Breakers had done what was required of them to secure a top four spot by defeating an undermanned Melbourne United 106-95. Development player and one test Tall Black Tohi Smith-Milner scored 5 points in his second outing of the season for United who had already qualified in top spot.

Earlier in the week Perth Wildcats travelled to Sydney without four starters and not surprisingly were downed 103-77 by NBL cellar dwellers Sydney Kings, 103-77. Jarrod Kenny scored 11 points, all in the first half, for the Wildcats but Dion Prewster went scoreless for the Kings.

 Two early threes at the start of the fourth quarter from Leon Henry helped propel the Townsville Crocodiles to a convincing 85-68 victory against Cairns Taipans in the fourth and final ‘Reptile Rumble’ of the season. Henry scored another 6 points on Saturday night as the Crocs rounded out their campaign with a thrilling 126-123 overtime success against the Sydney Kings.

 Perth wrapped up the regular season, and second place in the standings, disposing of Adelaide 100-84 on Sunday night. Jarrod Kenny dealt in pairs in this one – 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists.

 Europe 

CAI Zaragoza made it to the Eurocup last 16 for the first time in club history by downing Szolnoki Olaj (Hungarian League champions) 70-80 on the road on Wednesday. 5 points, 1 rebound and a steal for Isaac Fotu as Zaragoza finished their group with a 4-2 record. Next up for Fotu and his colleagues is a home and away tie with Dolomiti Energia Trento, currently sixth in the Italian Serie A.

Back in Liga Endesa Spanish League action Zaragoza travelled to ACAM Murcia on Sunday and were beaten 110-102 with Fotu scoring 7 points (2/6FG) and pulling down a pair of rebounds.

Plymouth Raiders had a tough weekend facing British Basketball League leaders Newcastle Eagles (19-2) on Friday before travelling back south to take on Surrey Scorchers on Sunday.

Duane Bailey was most impressive on Friday scoring a team high 25 points (12/23FG) before fouling out at Newcastle with seven minutes to play. The power forward also garnered 7 rebounds and dished a pair of assists.

Just 8 points, a rebound and two steals for Bailey at Surrey on Sunday but more importantly Plymouth came from 7 points down at half time to win 73-64. The victory keeps Plymouth in eighth spot on the BBL ladder.

American College 

Nebraska University Huskers has had a win and a loss in the last week. It lost its fourth game in five going down at Wisconsin on Wednesday, but comfortably beat Penn State 74-50 0n Saturday – the Huskers are now 6-7 in Big Ten Conference play.

Tai Webster contributed 9 points, a couple of rebounds and an assist against Wisconsin but failed to score against Penn.

Jack Salt didn’t suit up for Virginia University as the Cavaliers moved to 9-4 in the Atlantic Coast conference with a 67-49 win against Virginia Tech on Tuesday and a narrow 63-62 loss on Saturday against Duke.

Feb 15 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Beck and Stockill post career high’s

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Stella beck leads the West Coast Conference in field goal shooting – 57% from the field.

Career high points hauls for Stella Beck and Josie Stockill highlight the efforts of Tall Ferns overseas this week.

 Former Hutt Valley High School standout Beck put together an almost perfect shooting performance as she recorded a career high 27 points in St Mary’s Gaels 91-81 win At Loyola Marymount in West Coast Conference play. Beck was almost unstoppable shooting 10 from 11 from the field and a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. She wasn’t too shabby at the defensive end either collecting 3 rebounds and 4 blocks.

 In the same conference Kalani Purcell continued her good season as Brigham Young Uni-Provo recorded wins against San Francisco and Santa Clara. Across the two games Purcell averaged 17 points, 15.5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks.

 BYU remain atop the conference standings with a 14-1 record, St Mary’s (10-4) in third spot, with two weeks of the regular season to play.

 Colgate University Raiders may have slipped to a fifth straight loss when beaten 78-55 by Army West Point but Tall Fern Josie Stockill had a game to remember. The Hawkes Bay product scored a career high 29 points in addition to securing 9 rebounds and effecting 7 blocked shots.

 Stockill, who already holds the Raiders all time shot blocking record, is now just 18 points shy of 1,000 career points for the Raiders.

 Cal State Northridge Matadors improved to 4-6 in Big West Conference play following a convincing 62-48 win against Irvine. Tessa Boagni has had a quiet time of late and that trend continued as the Cantabrian centre grabbed 4 rebounds to match 4 points (1-4FG).

 Penina Davidson helped the University of California Berkley Golden Bears snap a four game losing streak with a strong 4pts/6rebs/4assists/2 steals stat line. The Bears improved to 3-11 in the Pac 12 Conference after defeating Arizona 75-56 on Sunday.

Australia – Women

The Townsville Fire has almost wrapped up the Australian WNBL minor premiership for the second successive season. After demolishing Dandenong Rangers 89-49 in Townsville on Friday the Fire requires just one win from its remaining two games after to secure the premiership.

Micaela Cocks made a major contribution to the win with 13 points that included a couple of crucial threes whilst Chevannah Paalvast added a brace of points and assists.

 Canberra Capitals broke a 21 game losing streak to upset top four contenders Perth Lynx on Friday winning 80-77. Toni Edmondson had 3 points and 3 assists for the Lynx.

 The Lynx bounced back on Saturday night securing a crucial 88-85 come from behind victory at Sydney Flames. Edmondson weighed in with a handy 8 points and 5 rebounds effort as the Lynx remained second on the ladder.

 Nelson native Jess Bygate also had 8 points for Adelaide Lightning as it cruised to an 88-62 victory in Melbourne against the Boomers on Saturday. Bygate shot a perfect 3 from 3 from the field plus a couple of free throws.

The dosage was almost repeated on Sunday as Adelaide won again beating Bendigo Spirit 92-78. 6 points and 2 rebounds for Bygate on that occasion.

 Top placing’s on WNBL ladder with one round to play – top four qualify for semi-finals at end of the 24 game regular season:

16-6 Townsville Fire

15-8 Dandenong Rangers

15-8 Perth Lynx

14-8 SE Queensland Stars

12-10 Bendigo Spirit

Europe – Women

Le Mura Lucca kept its impressive run in the Italian League going with a hard fought 74-71 road win at exotically named Siesto San Giovanni Geas. Once again Tall Fern Jillian Harmon led the Lucca effort with a 25 points haul.

COB Calais (3-13) remains second from the bottom of the French League after going down 76-51 at home to Villeneuve on Sunday. Erin Rooney put up just two shots for Calais failing to score with either attempt. The former Canterbury guard had to settle for 4 assists and a brace of steals in 29 minutes of action.

Feb 14 2016
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James Blond Supercity Rangers, NZ NBL

Rangers snare Ruscoe and Alexander

 

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Marco Alexander returns to Auckland for 2016 NBL season

The James Blond Super City Rangers have added depth to its guard stocks by adding Marco Alexander and Brook Ruscoe to its squad for the 2016 Bartercard NBL Season.

Ruscoe has had spells with a number of NBL clubs including the Nelson Giants and Auckland Pirates. Last season the 25 year old played for the Manawatu Jets averaging 20.4 points per game but the Jets having chosen to sit out the 2016 NBL season thus giving Ruscoe the opportunity to join the Rangers.

Alexander, a former Rangitoto College standout, returns to Auckland after an injury riddled 2015. His spell with Australian club Melbourne United was cut short due to a serious hip injury that required surgery. A slow recovery limited the 24 year old to just 11 appearances for the Hawkes Bay Hawks last season in the NBL.

Alexander is delighted to link up with the Jeff Green coached Rangers that will be looking to go one better than last season when the team was eliminated at the semi-final stage of the NBL. “I’m excited to join the Rangers and provide a spark for us. It’s great to be part of an experienced squad and we have the right pieces to go all the way”, said Alexander

Confirmed signings for the Rangers are Ruscoe, Alexander, Lindsay Tait, Dillon Boucher, Mika Vukona and Reuben Te Rangi.

The Rangers will open the NBL season with a trip to the Wellington Saints on Thursday March 10th, 2016.

Feb 13 2016
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ANBL, NZ Breakers, Uncategorized

Breakers play-offs bound

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Tom Abercrombie believes the Breakers “Are getting a good rhythm offensively.”

good rhythm and a good flow offensively

By Murray McKinnon

The Breakers downed an undermanned Melbourne United side 100-63 and Illawarra Hawks beat the Adelaide 36ers 106-95 to leave the Breakers clear in fourth on the ladder and into the playoffs against top of the table Melbourne.

After Melbourne left three of the their key players Chris Goulding, Daniel Kickert and Hakim Warrick at home, the game was always going to be one sided in the Breakers favour and they duly led through all four quarters, 22-16, 53-34 at the half and 76-47 and the three quarter.
Cedric Jackson was outstanding from the arc with four threes, he also had six assists and ended with 17 points, Charles Jackson was on 18 and Corey Webster 17.

Dean Vickerman was aware before the game that Melbourne were likely to be down in man power.
“I heard a whisper yesterday that Goulding wasn’t coming and after hearing that he wasn’t coming I thought there would be a couple of other people would follow as well and not come.”
“At that point I felt we had some advantages on the boards I thought we would dominate the boards and dominate the inside and if we could still restrict their three point shot it is something we’ve got to keep working on against this team and we gave it a good job in both those areas,” said Vickerman.
“It was a real final for us tonight,” he added.

Thomas Abercrombie who scored 14 said that the team still went into the game with full on intensity.
“I thought we did a great job of coming out with the right mind set. And the intensity was there and we were able to build a good lead which is what we needed to do and rest guys down the stretch.
We wanted to send off Dean and Richard in their final home game in the right way and play in the right way for them so it was really nice that we were able to give those two a really fitting send off because that’s exactly what they deserve.”

“They’ve given a whole lot to the Club over a number of years so they deserved nothing less than a hundred percent effort from all of us out there. I thought the starters brought it and the guys that came off the bench did a great job as well with the opportunity they were given and they enjoyed that extra time out there and played really well,” said Abercrombie.
“Sunday’s game over there they are a different animal and have incredible home support and Melbourne’s really gets behind them,” he added.

Melbourne coach Dean Demopolous said that he wanted to rest his key players before the finals.
“Just overall they have aches and pains so it’s a good opportunity to give them a chance to recover a little bit, they’ve been hurt for a while now so it gave a chance for some guys to play who haven’t, so that’s about it.
“We’re in the playoffs so it was a strategic decision but it was more based on how they felt than anything else,” he said.

Asked if he gave this game away by not bringing those guys.
“Not at all, I thought we had an excellent chance to play better than we did, give New Zealand credit they’re a very good basketball team, there are champions so they seized the moment. We didn’t take advantage of the opportunity as well as I would have liked but that’s the way it goes and we’ll strap it up on Sunday,” he said.
Kyle Adnam off the bench played well top scoring for Melbourne with 16.
“He’s a young kid and he has a great spirit. And I’m glad he had the opportunity to play.”

Vickerman is delighted to make the playoffs.
“We dug a pretty deep hole for ourselves with consecutive losses and that’s just a credit to the group that we were able to get out of it, we found a way to climb and scratch out of it and now put ourselves in the situation where we’ve got the opportunity for the playoffs we’ve got the opportunity to win a championship right now,” he said.

Abercrombie feels that the team has come together well over the last few weeks.
“We’re playing good basketball right now, we’ve had a real focus on ball movement and shooting the basketball these last few weeks and we’re starting to see that show out in the games and the way we’re able to play for each other out there and I think we’re starting to get a good rhythm and a good flow offensively, we’ve been a good defensive team all year and that’s been able to stay steady and now we’re starting to see that confidence in the swag on the offensive end,” he said.

Feb 09 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Important W’s for Townsville and BYU

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Crucial win for Kalani Purcell and BYU.

Two important games featuring four Tall Ferns players were played last weekend, one in Victoria and the other in CaliforniaTwo important games featuring four Tall Ferns players were played last weekend, one in Victoria and the other in California. Guards Micaela Cocks and Chevannah Paalvast are members of the Australian WNBL defending champion Townsville Fire and were involved in an important regular season game against archrivals Bendigo Spirit.

11,000 kilometers away on the other side of the Pacific forwards Stella Beck and Kalani Purcell were facing off for their respective NCAA Division 1 college teams Saint Mary’s University Gaels and Brigham Young University-Provo Cougars.

When it comes to rivalries in the Australian WNBL they don’t get any bigger than the Bendigo Spirit and the Townsville Fire. It is a rivalry, built over contesting the past three championship playoffs, Bendigo winning two and Townsville the defending champion.

Townsville had lost the two previous games against the Spirit this season but they limited the Spirit to just 24 first half points to score a rare win at Bendigo Stadium, 75-63, on Sunday.

The fourth consecutive win by the Fire pleased coach Chris Lucas who told the Townsville Bulletin, “It was always going to be tough but we got the job done.” The Tall Ferns assistant coach added “I’m really proud of the team, it’s a great result for us and they always do a great job on the road.” The win propelled Townsville to the top of the WNBL ladder.

Cocks, a starter in the Fire team, didn’t have her best shooting night. Her 6 points came from 8 attempts but she did also add 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Rookie Paalvast didn’t trouble the statisticians but provided her usual athletic hustle in her 12 minutes on court.

Purcell and Beck have featured strongly in West Coast Conference play all season. Purcell is the league’s leading rebounder (13.5rpg) whilst Beck, has the best field goal shooting percentage in the conference – 56%.

BYU Cougars entered the game leading the West Coast Conference standings with an 11-1 record, St Mary’s Gaels second (9-2) but it was Purcell and the Cougars that collected the spoils winning the top of the table clash 65-44.

The win was described by BYU coach Jeff Judkins as, “One of the best games we have played all year.” His team raced to a 21-5 first quarter lead and dominated proceedings thereafter.

Once again Purcell was outstanding, she had a game-best nine rebounds and 10 assists plus 6 points before fouling out in the closing minutes.

Stella Beck put in a solid performance for St Mary’s but her 4 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, I block effort failed to put much of a dent in BYU’s twelfth straight win and apparent charge towards the Conference title.

Roundup of other news featuring  Tall Ferns overseas……….

 

Australian WNBL side South East Queensland Stars caused a major upset on Saturday defeating top of the table Perth Lynx 87-71 in Western Australia. Cantabrian Toni Edmondson could do little to help turn the tide in the hosts favour grabbing a pair of rebounds, dishing 5 assists but going 0 from 3 from the field.

It was quite a week for the Stars who called in the receivers on Wednesday, sacked coach Shane Heal but were rescued Thursday, won in Adelaide on Friday and prevailed in Perth on Saturday.

 

 

 

Jillian Harmon and Le Mura Lucca  racked up win number 17 to head the Italian SieraA League with just a solitary loss. Lucca beat Napoli 70-57 on a rare Monday night outing.  Harmon was not at her most accurate shooting 4 from 12 from the field but still racked up 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in another powerful display.

Erin Rooney  enjoyed a weekend off at COB Calais (French League).

In other US college basketball news Colgate University Raiders fell to Navy on Saturday and now have a 2-9 record in Patriot League games. Hawkes Bay centre Josie Stockill scored 11 points and added 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a customary block as the Raiders slipped to a fourth straight loss, three of those by single digits.

Seattle University Redhawks (3-5 WAC) took an early lead but was eventually beaten 57-49 by Chicago State in Western Athletic Conference play. Forward Jacinta Beckley had 4pts (2/4FG), 2 rebs, and 1 steal for Seattle

Cal State Northridge Matadors (5-18, 3-6 BWC) lost 83-76 Saturday afternoon at UC Riverside in a Big West Conference game. Cantabrian Tessa Boagni had 8 points and 5 rebounds with the Matadors now 3-6 in conference play.

In Pac-12 Conference play Univ of California, Berkley Golden Bears went down 53-46 at No 15 ranked Stanford on Tuesday in the first of the Battle of the Bay encounters. The two fierce rivals met again on Friday but the outcome was the same as Cal was defeated at home 60-55 to slip to 2-10 in Pac-12 Conference play. Penina Davidson was a strong defensive presence for the Golden Bears accumulating 11 rebounds and 4 steals but her shooting form deserted her as she went 2 from 14 over the two games.

Feb 08 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks

Penney back in the groove

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Kirk Penney averaging 21pts a game for Illawarra this season

Kirk Penney may have missed the previous four games for the Illawarra Hawks due to a hamstring injury picked up against the Breakers last month but he certainly hasn’t lost his scoring touch. The Tall Blacks marksman scored 28 points as the Hawks secured a play-offs birth with a tense 104-97 overtime win against Townsville Crocodiles on Saturday. Penney missed with his opening range finder but was sublime thereafter caressing 10 from 16 shooting attempts including 5 from 9 triples.

Leon Henry was a little more subdued than his Kiwi counterpart contributing 4pts, 4 rebounds and a block to the spirited Crocs cause.

In other news from the Australian National Basketball League……

The Perth Wildcats versus Sydney Kings game got off to a surprising start in the first two minutes with the Kings opening up an 11-0 advantage.

That forced ‘Cats’ coach Trevor Gleeson to make an extremely unusual move and pull out his entire starting five replacing them with his back up crew that included Tall Blacks point guard Jarrod Kenny.

Perth’s second unit played out the rest of the first quarter and worked the home team back into the contest. They were within a point by quarter-time and continued to pull away the rest of the evening to eventually win 95-81.

Kenny, benefitting from extended court time produced an industrious 7pts/2rebs/3ast/2steals effort.

Fellow Tall Blacks guard Dion Prewster was largely anonymous for the Kings putting up just a single unsuccessful shot although he did manage a block and an assist.

Europe 

In the Eurocup CAI Zaragoza stayed in the fight to make it out of pool play by downing Turkish side Galatasaray Odeabank 85-68 at home in front of over 7,000 fans on Wednesday. Zaragoza, Galatasaray and Sassari (Italy) have a 3-2 record in Group N so it will all come down to next week’s games to decide which two teams progress to the last 16 knockout stage. Isaac Fotu was in fine form for the hosts scoring 14 points at a very efficient 6 from 7 shooting.

Zaragoza scored a major victory over FIATC Joventut in their struggle to move away from the lower reaches of the Spanish League on Sunday. A dominant 31-17 second quarter helped propel Zaragoza to a 94-83 success and improve their record to 6-13. Fotu was in double figures again with 10 points (4/7FG) along with 5 rebounds.

Duane Bailey only managed to convert one of six scoring attempts but he did amass 11 rebounds plus a pair of assists and a block as Plymouth Raiders beat Leeds Force 75-62. The win enabled the Raiders to jump over the Force into a play-off spot in the British Basketball League. Former Breakers player now Plymouth’s player coach Darryl Corletto led all scorers with 21 points.

In Belgium Rob Loe, recovering from knee ligament damage is targeting a return to the court in early March. His Limburg United team are tracking reasonably well in his absence sitting third on the Scooore League ladder with an 8-6 record.

American College 

Nebraska had a chance to tie in the final seconds against Number 4 ranked Maryland but the Huskers fell just short, 70-65 on Wednesday evening in front of a home crowd of 15,693.

Tai Webster made 6 from 7 free throws as he contributed 8 points, 5 rebounds and a game high 3 steals for Nebraska.

The Huskers broke a three game losing streak on Saturday comfortably beating Rutgers 87-63 to improve to 5-6 in Big Ten Conference play. Just 5 points, 2 rebounds and an assist for Webster in that one.

Jack Salt didn’t suit up for Virginia University as the Cavaliers beat Pitt 64-50 on Saturday. The Cavaliers, 8-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, have won six straight and its early

Feb 02 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks

Tall Blacks overseas roundup

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Henry disappointed he couldn’t get win against “brothers”.

Leon Henry would have loved to get another win over on his former team at Vector Arena on Friday night. The Breakers looked to be heading for a comfortable victory to avenge their 23 points drubbing at the hands of the Crocs last week. The hosts led by 11 points in the fourth quarter but in the end had to withstand a typical Townsville fight back to eventually stumble across the line 77-74.

Henry had a relatively quiet night adding a block and a rebound to a couple of points.

In other news from the Australian National Basketball League.

In the battle of the top two sides Melbourne United secured an overtime victory, 91-85, in Perth against the Wildcats on Friday. Jarrod Kenny (2p/3r/4a/2steals) helped spark a Cats revival as they scored ten of the last twelve points in regulation but United weathered the Perth revival to move to the top of the NBL ladder with a 17-8 record.

Sydney Kings went down 81-76 in Cairns in the third Friday night game, the defeat handing the Kings the NBL wooden spoon for just the second time in franchise history. Dion Prewster had 2pts/4rebs/2 assists for Sydney.

There were initial fears Kirk Penney may have suffered a season-ending hamstring injury against the Breakers a couple of weeks ago before scans confirmed a burst blood vessel was behind the extensive bruising and swelling in his leg. Without Penney the Illawarra Hawks managed to split their two game series with the Adelaide 36ers in this round, both teams winning their home encounters.

Europe –Men

On Wednesday in the Eurocup Italian club Dinamo Sassari never trailed before holding on to 75-72 win over CAI Zaragoza to stay in contention for a place in the quarter finals. Sassari and CAI both hold 2-2 records in a share of second place of Group N, but CAI has the tie-breaking advantage with its 12-point win over Sassari last week. The top two teams in each group advance into the last eight. Isaac Fotu went 2 from 5 from the field for 4 points for Zaragoza.

Zaragoza was beaten 91-81 at Andorra on Saturday and appears to be in a Liga Endesa relegation battle in the second half of the season. Fotu started for Zaragoza but scored just 5 points as his team slip to 16th in the 18-team competition with a 5-13 record.

Plymouth Raiders had a double header against Sheffield Sharks at the weekend and got bitten on both occasions. Duane Bailey scored 2 points and secured 5 rebounds as the Raiders went down 74-68 on Friday night in a British Basketball League encounter. 48 hours later the Raiders were knocked out of the Trophy competition at the quarter final stage thumped 99-73 at home.

American College – Men

Tai Webster has found some good form lately for the Nebraska University Huskers. He is the only player averaging double figures in Big Ten Conference play while not making a start in conference play. Webster is averaging 11 points per game and had 12 points and a career-high five steals last week against Michigan.

On Saturday the Huskers visited Purdue, a college that must have one of the least attractive monikers in NCAA sport, being known as the Boilermakers. Unattractive or not the No. 21 ranked Purdue topped Nebraska, 89-74, the Huskers slipping to 4-5 in conference games. Webster was in the thick of the action again with 17 points (6/10FG, 4/5FT), 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

Jack Salt only played 4 minutes for the Virginia University Cavaliers on Tuesday but he was a member of the excited bench brigade looking on as the Cavs came back from 10 points down with 1:23 remaining to defeat Wake Forrest 72-71. Guard Darius Thompson made a sideline three on the buzzer to give the Cavs the most unlikely of victories.

Virginia improved to 6-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday routing Louisville 63-47. Salt only played in the last minute but did step on court in front 22,000 Louisville supporters. Imagine that!

Feb 01 2016
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Ferns

Harmon, Stockill and Purcell continue good form overseas

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Jillian Harmon is averaging almost 20pts a game in the Italian League

 

Jillian Harmon is enjoying a heck of a season in Italy. In the latest game in the Italian League Harmon led all scorers with 25 points as Le Mura Lucca, with an impressive 16-1 record, retained top spot on the SerieA ladder after a hard fought 71-61 win at Battipaglia.

The Tall Ferns forward has registered nine 20+ points haul this season and sits fifth in scoring in the league averaging 19.9 points per game and second in steals with 3.8 per game.

Calais (3-12) lost its fifth game in a row in the French League going down 62-49 at Hainaut and remains 13th on the 14-team ladder. Former Canterbury guard Erin Rooney fouled out with 2 points (1/5FG), 3 rebounds and 3 assists for Calais.

A number of our Tall Ferns have also been performing strongly in college basketball.

Being named the West Coast Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third straight week did nothing to diminish Kalani Purcell’s thirst for action.

The BYU-Provo Cougars forward recorded her 11th double double of the season as the Cougars won the first of four consecutive road games beating Loyola Marymount, 82-75 on Thursday. Purcell recorded 14 points and 14 rebounds.

BYU closed out its southern California road trip with its tenth straight win, 77-66, in a close fought battle against Pepperdine on Saturday.

Saint Mary’s Gaels completed their first-ever undefeated month of January, defeating Pacific 83-75 on Saturday. Stella Beck fouled out in just 17 minutes after contributing 7 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists.

The win gave the Gaels a 7-0 record in January, as they improve to 17-4 overall, 8-2 West Coast Conference.  The win sets up a big weekend next week as the Gaels welcome first-place co-leaders BYU-Provo and San Diego.  The Gaels are just one game back in the loss column and can move up the WCC standings with a win or wins.

Hawkes Bay Forward Josie Stockill led the Colgate scoring with 19 points (6/24FG, 6/8FT) as the Raiders lost 64-56 to America in Washington. Stockill, who is having an outstanding season, added 7 rebounds an assist and a block as Colgate slip to a 2-7 record in Patriot League games.

After battling traffic on the trip down to Orange County, Cal State Northridge Matadors picked up its second Big West Conference win defeating UC Irvine 83-64 on Thursday night.

Tessa Boagni came off the bench to finish with eight points (2/3FG, 4/5FT); all coming in the opening quarter, and eight rebounds for the Matadors.

Boagni was in boards dominating form again on Saturday as the Matadors won its third-straight conference game with a 79-52 victory over Cal State Fullerton. The Cantabrian added 4 points, 2 assists and a block to a 10 rebounds haul.

Former Rangitoto College student Penina Davidson (2pts/2rebs/1steal) started for Univ of Cal Golden Bears who picked up just their second Pac-12 Conference win on Friday, edging to a welcome 74-71 win against Washington State.

At home again on Sunday the Golden Bears slipped up against University of Washington going down 75-65. Davidson had 4 points and 3 rebounds as Cal slip to 2-8 in Pac-12 games.

Our four Tall Ferns playing in the Australian WNBL had quiet outings this week despite their respective teams recording victories.

The Townsville Fire secured an important win against Sydney University Flames on Friday. The Fire won 89-80 against another top four play-off contender with guard Micaela Cocks contributing 7 points (3/6FG), 3 rebounds and an assist.

Fellow Kiwi guard Chevannah Paalvast did not trouble the scorers playing just three minutes for the Fire.

Cantabrian Toni Edmondson had a 0 from 5 shooting night on Saturday as Perth Lynx thumped the injury plagued Melbourne Boomers 80-59. The Lynx remain top of the ladder, one win ahead of Townsville who have a game in hand, with a 14-6 record

Tall Fern Jess Bygate hasn’t been seeing much court time lately for Adelaide Lightning but the Nelson forward did make her only shot of the game as the Lightning moved out of the bottom two on the ladder for the first time this season with a comprehensive 70-47 win over Melbourne Boomers.

It has recently been announced that at the conclusion of the WNBL season Bygate will link up with Tall Ferns coach Kennedy Kereama at Sunbury Jets to play in the Victorian Big V League.

Jan 30 2016
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ANBL, NZ Breakers

Vickerman and Dennis reflect on Breakers win against Townsville

ANBL - SkyCity Breakers v Melbourne United, 21 November 2014

Dean Vickerman “Any win right now is a good win for us.” 

By Murray McKInnon

The drought is over, the Breakers finally got a win on the board with a 77-74 home victory over the Townsville Crocodiles at the Vector Arena on Friday night.

But they had to battle it out over the final two and a half minutes after Corey Webster with a three pointer had given them an 11 point buffer going into the final stanza.
Clint Steindl sparked a revival for the Crocodiles with six straight points and Nicholas Kay gave them further hope with a three and two free throws. Mika Vukona sitting on four fouls, determined not let it slip away, made two quick layups and Tom Abercrombie came in a with a free throw and a two point shot to clinch it for the Breakers in front of a crowd of 5562.

Scores were locked at 22 a piece after the first quarter where Abercrombie, from the free throw line, in the opening seconds of the game gained the two points he needed to become the Breakers all-time leading scorer surpassing Kirk Penney’s 2,517 points. Abercrombie playing in his 215th game for the Breakers top scored with 22. Charles Jackson with 15 points and 15 rebounds, Cedric Jackson on 13 and Corey Webster 12 were the other top contributors to the win.
The Breakers led 38-36 at the half and at the end of the three-quarter the teams were level again at 52-52.

It was a relieved and smiling Dean Vickerman who fronted the media after the game.
“Any win right now is a good win for us, we built a solid lead and everything that possibly could happen kind of happened in that last part, a number of offensive rebounds, foul a three point shooter, a push off on an inbound pass, there were a number of things that happened that didn’t help us close that thing out, but we held our nerve and we’re really happy to get the win,” said Vickerman.
“The message got through that we wanted to foul, we fouled, we did it right, we questioned the last one, there’s four and a half seconds to go, do you foul that one, but it worked out,” he added.

Vickerman said after six straight losses confidence was down a bit coming into the game.
“After some losses like we’ve had there’s just that little edge off your confidence and we showed that a little bit tonight, but to get through that one and now we keep building and we’re back to 500 and we move on to Adelaide.
“I thought we had some patches where we blew the game and got out to a good margin, that end of the third quarter wasn’t good for us where they made a little come back. I kept my time out there and wanted to see how long we could play that group that we put in at the start of the fourth quarter and they pretty much played the whole game out, Mika played the whole quarter with four fouls, I though Charles was the best of our bigs and kept him out there. Corey struggled the first half but he came through with some key shots. I thought Tommy was outstanding most of the night and Ced just drove us tonight and it was really important his attack on the rim was outstanding play and to get Charles to action that dump down the stretch,” said Vickerman.

The coach was also pleased to see Abercrombie reach a milestone of scoring for the Club.
“There’s been some amazing players play for this Club and for him to be top of the scoring list and with a long career to go it will be interesting to see how far he can take that record” he said
Vickerman left it to Cedric Jackson to comment on Charles Jackson.
“Charles really watches a lot of film that’s a great learning tool from the guys he’s been learning from and he’s always trying to find a way to be a spark and he was definitely that tonight and with his energy he’s the best communicator on court all night. We talk a lot but he drove everything tonight and he’s getting his confidence back and learning how to defend certain players, he’s just got this little thing of get your hand out of the cookie jar. Alex Pledger’s also playing great right now and as long as we can just continue to build on that and stay focussed,” said Cedric.

Going forward Vickerman said it was a nice little bit of relief but there is still more work to do.

“Go in there and play to get the win and see what happens happens, we tick this one off we’re back to 500 and we’re 12 and 12 and we’ve four to go and we know it’s two at home and two on the road and one of the things we haven’t been able to do this year so far is be a really good team on the road and if we want to make the finals we going to have to do that, it’s a great test for us right now.”

Asked if he was disappointed at losing Townsville coach Shawn Dennis said if anything he was pleased with the effort his team showed.
“I don’t think it’s disappointing when you look at you’re playing New Zealand in New Zealand who are four times champion in five years, and we’re the youngest team in the League and spend out the least amount of money in the League, to come back into it like that shows the guts and determination of this group so I’m actually extremely proud. You want to win on the scoreboard but we’re still learning how to win and against the Breakers, there’re three teams in this League, that if you don’t win the possession game, it’s very difficult to beat and that’s Adelaide, Illawarra and New Zealand and we had 17 turnovers and gave up 20 offensive boards and that’s the ball game and then you miss 12 free throws on top of that it’s actually a miracle we were within three, so from that point of view to do that and still have a chance to win the game I’m extremely proud of this group, that’s a great effort and I think people need to realise what a hell of an effort that is against New Zealand.

“They’re four times champions when they know they need to perform in general they always do and they did today, they threw everything they had at us and they only got us by three and that’s an incredible effort by our blokes and I’m extremely proud of them”, said Dennis.

He added that he was impressed with the Breakers play.
“They’re a good shooting team and they can get second chance goes at it and that gives them confidence to shoot the ball and that’s what happened in the fourth quarter, they dominated us in that area and in the last part of the quarter we started to take care of it. And that’s when we were able to edge our way back in and were able to set up a couple of good plays and there’s no secret in basketball that your defence is the thing that creates good offensive opportunities and poise within your team and we started to get that done and overall we weren’t too bad defensively we kept them under 80 points which I think is a very good effort but you just can’t give up all that possession, it just kills you in the end,” said Dennis.
“Our aim is to get to 12 wins if we can and win the rest of our home games and it means we’ve had another improvement after a tough off-season,” he added.

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