Basketball: Abercrombie leads the way

A brilliant first-half shooting display from young forward Thomas Abercrombie helped Waikato to back-to-back National Basketball league titles as they beat Nelson 94-84 in game two of the finals at Te Awamutu last night.

Waikato won the first game of the three-match series 81-69 in Nelson on Tuesday on the back of a Michael Fitchett shooting display but last night belonged to Abercrombie, 21, the NBL's rookie of the year.

Abercrombie shot a clean 19 points in the first half that included four three-pointers to help Waikato take a 55-41 lead at halftime.

Speedy playmaker Justin Bailey was another big contributor with a couple of steals and double digit points, making a total of 32 in the game.