Basketball: Heat slump to fifth loss against low profile Rams

Harbour Heat 65 Canterbury Rams 74

A North Harbour side full of comparatively well-known basketball names crashed to the relatively unknown Canterbury Rams at the North Shore Events Centre in the latest round of the NBL last night.

With just one win from six games in 2006, something is going to have to give at Harbour if they are to challenge on the points table.

Initial import Anthony Susnjara from the Sydney Kings was given almost no court time to gain a presence and appeared to have fallen foul of coach Steve Done. Susnjara has now been replaced by American Anthony Lackey, who arrived this week and could be promising.

The problem seems to be with either Harbour's coaching strategy or the fact that a team of good players haven't been able to string together more than one decent performance.

In last night's loss, there were too many loose passes, no defence under the basket and just not enough scoring from the Heat.

After the first quarter, the Rams led 29-17 while, in the second, both sides scored 17 apiece, as the Rams went off the boil slightly. The third quarter saw better defence by both sides but also a lack of scoring.

The Rams managed just 12 points and Harbour 14, with the visitors finishing the quarter up 58-47.

Troy McLean was the top scorer at halftime on 13 points, with nine coming from three-point shots.

However, McLean was the only Harbour player to score more than six first-half points and he finished as the game's top scorer with 20 points.

For the Rams, import Dennis Trammell led on 12 at the half and finished with 15, while Tim Edmonds scored 16.

Most impressive for the Rams was 22-year-old Jeremy Kench, who had 11 points in the first half and consistently troubled Harbour.

At the end of the game, he had scored 18 and was valuable with three assists as well. The only other Harbour player to make any sort of impact was Hayden Allen with 13 points but even he wasn't up to his usual standard.

The Heat's next game is away against the Wellington Saints in a week. The Rams take on the defending champion Auckland Stars today at ASB Stadium at 3pm.

Canterbury Rams 74 (Jeremy Kench 18, Tim Edmonds 16, Dennis Trammell 15).
North Harbour Heat 65 (Troy McLean 20, Hayden Allen 13).