Distraught Taylor Hawks player Jordan Hunt amid the calamities of the last seconds of the Sal's NBL game which ended with his side beaten 95-93 by Taranaki Airs. Photo / Ian Cooper
Distraught Taylor Hawks player Jordan Hunt amid the calamities of the last seconds of the Sal's NBL game which ended with his side beaten 95-93 by Taranaki Airs. Photo / Ian Cooper
The national basketball league has seen one of its most dramatic and bizarre finishes with previously win-less visiting side Taranaki Airs beating home side and on top-of-their-game Taylor Hawks 95-93 at Pettigrew.Green Arena in Taradale.
With two wins away on the first weekend as the 2023 Sal’s league season openedat Easter, the Hawks were made TAB favourites to win by 15.5 or more on Saturday.
They were up against an Airs side which had lost both matches also on the road, including being towelled 80-55 just 24 hours earlier by Auckland Tuatara in Auckland.
With no imports, pending the arrival of American forward Ira Lee, who played in 113 games for Arizona Wildcats and is currently playing in the Finnish league, coach Everard Bartlett’s side had beaten Franklin Bulls 84-79 in an overtime season-opening result in Pukekohe and then Wellington Saints 88-74 in Wellington.
But it was the Airs that came out firing at the PGA, after a pre-match minute’s silence at basketball’s first chance to recognise the losses of life in Cyclone Gabrielle two months ago.
Hyrum Harris, top scorer for the night with 25pts, takes on Taranaki Airs defenders Richard Rodger and Marcel Jones. Photo / Ian Cooper
The Airs went out to 5-0 before Hyrum Harris landed a three-pointer for the Hawks’ first basket, but the Airs would go out by six points six times, once to eight, in a first quarter which ended with them up 28-25.
It was two more points than the Airs had scored in the whole first half of their match in Auckland the night beforehand.
In the second quarter the lead twice got out to nine points, at halftime it was 49-44, and it was not until the 28th minute that the Hawks first took the lead at 69-67, eventually scoring 30 points in the third quarter to start the final 10 minutes up 74-70.
Were the Airs tiring amid the strain of three games in six days of travel?
If so, they got a second wind, as they regained the lead with the first five points of the final quarter, starting with a three-pointer from the ever-vigorous Armon Fletcher, effectively setting the scene for the drama that followed.
Having had the lead a total of just three minutes, the Hawkes equalised at 86-86 with a Jordan Ngatai three-pointer with 3min 30sec to go, but didn’t hit the lead again till Harris sank a two-point dunk to make it 90-88 with 1:55 to go on the clock.
They were trying to play out the time at 93-90 when David Azore nailed a three-point jump shot to equalise with half a minute remaining.
Both Derone Raukawa and Jordan Hunt would miss 2pt jump shots, and then, with just seven seconds on the clock, Hunt missed both opportunities from the free-throw line, either one of which could have stolen the game.
Just when it seemed the Hawks would go to their second overtime finish in three games, Airs player Anzac Rissetto called a timeout with less than a second to go, sparking about 10 minutes of confusion setting the clock to the appropriate split-second.
After it was set, the Airs, with one movement, popped in the two points courtesy of Azore to complete the rescue.
Despite the loss, the Hawks had continued extending the arsenal, with Harris (25pts) and Hunt (24pts) topping the points-scoring on the night, in the wake of even bigger hits by Ethan Rusbatch and Ngatai at Easter.
Four of the Airs starting five hit double figures, Fletcher scoring 21 points in a game which the 40 minutes of play stretched almost two hours, without overtime.
The Hawks are at home again on Thursday night against Canterbury Rams, who will be playing away from home for the first time in three matches, and will then have a 10-day break before a third game at home in a row against Southland Sharks on April 30.
Already well on the road to a place in the top six for the playoffs on July 20-23, they will have four home games in a row at the end of the regular season.
The schedule for the remaining games is: April 20, 7pm, v Canterbury Rams; Taradale; April 30, 4pm, v Southland Sharks, Taradale; May 7, 4pm, v Manawatu Jets, Palmerston North; May 11, 7pm, v Taranaki Airs, New Plymouth; May 13, 7pm, v Auckland Tuatara, Auckland; May 21, 4pm, v Nelson Giants, Taradale; May 26, 7pm, v Otago Nuggets, Dunedin; May 27, 7pm, v Southland Sharks, Invercargill; June 3, 5pm, v Canterbury Rams, Christchurch; June 10, 7.30pm, v Franklin Bulls, Taradale; June 16, 7pm, v Nelson Giants, Nelson; June 24, 7pm, Otago Nuggets, Taradale; July 1, 7pm, v Wellington Saints, Taradale; July 9, 4pm, v Auckland Tuatara, Taradale; July 15, 7.30pm, v Manawatu Jets, Taradale.
