Basketball: Rusbatch on fire as Hawks roll the Nuggets

Ethan Rusbatch in action against the Southland Sharks last month. He rocked the PGA with 36 points on Saturday night against the Otago Nuggets. Photo / File

The Taylor Hawks wound it up another notch with another 30-point triumph in downing the Otago Nuggets 103-73 on Saturday night.

The heft margin came in what had been expected to be a pitched battle for the No 3 rung on the Sal's National Basketball League ladder.

In front of the Pettigrew.Green Arena faithful in Taradale, it could hardly have been a better lead-in to next Friday's showdown with the Wellington Saints on the same court, with a walloping 61 points from the two star acts on the night.

Shooting guard Ethan Rusbatch had one of the best individual match outcomes of the season with 36 points – 26 of them in the first half, at the end of which the Hawks led 56-40. It was 77-55 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Rusbatch dropped 9 3-pointers for the night and was backed up admirably by Australian big man Rhys Vague in his best outing of the season, claiming 26 points and missing just one shot.

The Hawks had also run up a margin of 30pts-plus against the Franklin Bulls just eight days earlier and, with a win over the Auckland Huskies in between, the results leave some big calls to be made by coach Kaine Hokianga in a squad showing real depth. Former captain Jarrod Kenny is expected to join the roster this week, returning from Australia in time for the match against the Saints on Friday night.