Basketball: Saints join Sharks in NBL finale

Damien Ekenasio of the Wellington Saints goes up for a layup against the Nelson Giants. Photo / NZ Herald

The men from the capital will be taking on the southerners in a prestigious final this weekend.

Sound familiar? Well, in a nod to the Super Rugby final, the Wellington Saints joined the Southland Sharks in the National Basketball League finale with a 97-85 win over the Nelson Giants tonight.

In a fascinating contest, both sides had MVP-calibre talents surrounded in uncertainty, with Saints swingman Torrey Craig limited by a knee injury, while Giants star McKenzie Moore started off the bench due to reportedly suffering from turf toe.

In part due to Moore sitting on the sidelines, the Saints shot out to an 11-2 lead, with Lindsay Tait and Dion Prewster finding initial penetration easy to come by against the Giants perimeter defence.

While Prewster continued to get his points at the rim, Tait found his stroke from deep also as the Saints built a 26-15 first quarter advantage.

However, with Moore fully integrated the Giants found their groove, Finn Delany providing a spark off the bench with two triples, while foul trouble for the Saints meant they couldn't consistently roll with a dominant unit.

The Giants also managed to get the crowd off their feet twice in the second quarter, with first Delany throwing down a vicious dunk before Moore dunked all over Saints centre Daniel Johnson in one of the fiercest dunks of the season to cut the Saints' lead to 49-43 at the half.

Fanning's squad managed to cut the deficit to one early in the third, but threes from Prewster and Leon Henry boosted the lead for the hosts out to seven, while a fourth foul on Moore saw him hit the bench again.

The Saints managed to stretch their lead into double digits, but great work on the offensive boards from Mika Vukona gave the Giants several secondary scoring opportunities, with Phill Jones hitting a deep three to cut the lead to just three points midway through the final quarter.

With Moore fouling out and tending to his injured foot on the bench, the Giants were left to fend in the clutch without their star.

Unfortunately for the visitors, they eventually didn't have the offensive firepower as the Saints closed out the game in style to run away victorious.

Tait was brilliant for the hosts, stepping up to fill Craig's scoring role with a season-high 29 points on 10/14 shooting, while Dion Prewster was also fantastic with 17 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Daniel Johnson added 22 points and 10 rebounds.

For the Giants, Vukona was superb in his last NBL game with 19 points and 14 rebounds, DeRonn Scott had 18 and Delany 14.

The final takes place at 7.00pm tomorrow night.

Niall Anderson is staying in Wellington courtesy of Bay Plaza Hotel