Basketball: Sharks crush Saints to make it eight in a row

Southland Sharks coach Paul Henare guided his side to an impressive win over the Wellington Saints. Photo / Getty Images

The Southland Sharks have made it eight wins in a row in the most impressive fashion, crushing the Wellington Saints 108-76 in Wellington this afternoon.

The dominant victory puts the Sharks onto the top of the ladder, joining the Nelson Giants with a 9-3 record, with Paul Henare's side recovering from a 1-3 start to put their name into pole position amongst the title favourites.

That title favourite tag had previously been clipped onto the talent-laden Saints, but they were swept of their own court by the Sharks who shot absurd at absurd rates, going 63% from the field and 54% from beyond the arc.

The Sharks led 29-16 after the first quarter and never let up, taking a 56-33 halftime lead and coasting to their most important win of the campaign so far.

Kevin Braswell led the way with his finest performance of the season, putting up 33 points on 14/18 shooting and adding 12 assists. The import point guard hit four threes, and added four rebounds and three steals to go with eight turnovers.

He found support from all of the Sharks' core of six, with Duane Bailey needing just nine shots to post 18 points to go with nine rebounds and four steals, while Bailey's New Zealand Breakers teammate Tai Wesley continued his excellent season with 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four blocks.

Adrian Majstrovich continued his strong recent form with 15 points and nine rebounds and Shea Ili added 13. Impressively, the Sharks put on their offensive outburst despite a quiet display from MVP candidate Todd Blanchfield, who could only muster 12 points, missing all six of his three-point attempts.

For the Saints, only the excellent Leon Henry provided resistance with 22 points (8/11 FG, 4/5 3PT) and seven rebounds as Pero Cameron's side shot just 38% from the field, dropping to third on the ladder with an 8-4 record.

In other action, the Manawatu Jets defeated the Hawke's Bay Hawks 79-73 behind 26 points from Brook Ruscoe and 25 from Dion Harris.

Centre Jeremiah Trueman added 11 points and 14 rebounds for the visitors who picked up their fourth win of the season.