KEY POINTS:
Aussie centre Tim Behrendorff dominated Otago to help North Harbour extend their unbeaten start to the NBL season last night.
The home team had a comfortable 94-71 victory but the semifinal chances of defending champions Hawke's Bay took a blow when they lost in Nelson.
Harbour were never challenged after building a 30-10 lead in the opening quarter. They extended their advantage to 25 points by halftime and simply hung on.
Behrendorff led their scoring with 19 points and blocked three shots in the heart of the Harbour zone.
Harbour also continued their defensive stranglehold on the league, restricting Otago to just 38 per cent from the field while maintaining the competition's lowest points conceded average (73.1).
Principally, they restricted two of the league's highest scorers - Justin Bailey and Branduinn Fullove - to just 20 points combined, less than half their season average.
North Harbour face Nelson on Thursday, while the same night, Otago visit Canterbury, the team they beat for their only win of the season so far.
Meanwhile, Nelson prepared for their tilt at Harbour's record with an emphatic 105-91 win over Hawke's Bay. Nelson built an 18-point lead with a 28-14 third quarter and the champions could get no closer than 10 points over the final term.
- NZPA
