KEY POINTS:
Guard Hayden Allen led a balanced attack and Appliance Shed Harbour Heat continued their domination of the Dominion Finance NBL with an 86-76 win over Youthtown Auckland Stars.
The Battle of the Bridge saw Harbour extend their unbeaten start to the 2007 season to five games, while snapping the Stars' six-game winning streak.
The home team quickly stamped their superiority that gave them a 21-12 lead after the opening quarter. They extended their advantage to 43-24 by halftime, scored the first nine points after the restart and stretched the margin to 29 points late in the period, before the league leaders rallied. Still down by 17 with 10 minutes remaining, consecutive three-pointers from Valance Te Ratana and Lindsay Tait got the Stars within eight inside the final minute, but it was too late.
Allen finished with 18 points (6/9 FG, 2/4 3pt, 4/6 FT) for Harbour, Nat Connell had 11 of his 17 in the fourth term, while Aussies Oscar Forman (17 points/13 rebounds) and Tim Behrendorff (13 points/12 rebounds) both had "double doubles".
American Danny Lambert led all scorers with 20 points (8/16 FG, 3/4 3pt, 1/3 FT) for the Stars. Meanwhile the Nelson Giants had a 98-85 road win over Manawatu.
