In a physical game that saw two players ejected from the court, top-of-the-table Auckland Stars beat the bottom-of-the-table Otago Nuggets at ASB Stadium in Auckland yesterday.
Branduinn Fullove for the Nuggets was the first to go after throwing the ball into the back of areferee and Auckland's Brock Gillespie was ejected for kicking Otago's Miles Pearce in retaliation for an earlier altercation.
Auckland led 19-9 after the first quarter but Otago came back at the start of the next 10 minutes, Brandon Morris scoring six points to cut the difference to 21-18.
Reece Cassidy then had a run for Auckland before Darryl Jones slotted a three-pointer to put Otago on track with a two-point game, Auckland leading 30-28 at the break.
Gillespie was off target with his three-point shooting but Judd Flavell and Cassidy stepped up to the mark with accuracy, taking Auckland out to a 52-41 lead at the three-quarter.
In a fiery game featuring several unsportsmanlike fouls, Auckland upped their defence in the final quarter to outscore the Nuggets 29-13.
Daryl Cartwright collected three triple-pointers and ended up with 15 for the game. Cassidy top-scored with 21 and Josh Nigut played his usual solid game for 14 points.
Dillon Boucher controlled the game for the Stars mid-court with 10 assists, seven steals, three turnovers, three blocked shoots and nine rebounds.
Casey Frank had 10 points for Auckland and outgunned Pearce, taking 11 defensive rebounds.
Morris was the best for the Nuggets on 14, former Tall Black Pearce was reduced to 8, while Auckland's defence held Fullove, who has averaged 24.8 per game this season, to 10.
Auckland coach Kenny Stone said that now, at the business end of the season, the team needed to take stock of situations they got themselves into.
"We've got to keep our heads and not be in a position where we are being thrown out of the game.
"Our defence was good, but our offensive execution was average.
"We have a lot at stake in next Friday's game against the Hawks as the outcome will determine who is first and second for the season and home-court advantage for the final," said Stone.
