Northland hang on by thread in nailbiter

The final 20 seconds of the Northland Suns game against Ngatiwai Soldiers seemed like an eternity for the side, with their first win of the season hanging by a thread.
Saturday's Super City Basketball Competition clash at the Breakers Training Facility was a nail biter as the Suns battled to maintain their halftime 42-38 lead in the final two quarters.
"We were leading by 10 points at the start of the fourth quarter and then we fell off, I could see it happening," player and chief executive Travis McIlroy said.
"We hadn't been in that position before and the boys were a bit psyched out by it and Ngatiwai came back at us with a few easy baskets."
Enter Suns coaches Mata Cameron and Manuera Riwai. "Mata's experience really showed through, she spotted what we needed to work on and really motivated us in the fourth quarter when we started to drop off," McIlroy said.
With 20 seconds left on the clock, it was all on, tied up at 80 apiece and the fairytale ending finally played out in favour of the Suns.
"I brought the ball up and found Corey Poa in a good position near the hoop. The defence swarmed around him which left Arahi O'Donnell wide open. Corey sent him a clean pass and he shot a two pointer - and it was nothing but net."
The game was not over yet however with 10 seconds on the clock and Ngatiwai got the ball back to their end swiftly where they had several opportunities, but the Suns managed to hold them out to win 82-80.
It was a hard fought and long awaited win for the side, who made their debut in the competition this year. They progressed through the first round with a couple of close calls, but no victories and winning early in round two was a huge boost for the guys, McIlroy said.
Having recently joined the side, Kerikeri 21-year-old Mitch Knock had a huge game, top scoring with 22 points, including six three pointers.
The 1.83m shooting guard's strong defence, good ball-carrying skills and excellent shooting may have been the team's missing link up until now, McIlroy said.
The team face table leaders Auckland Rivets in game three of the second round on Saturday.