Basketball: Waikato bounce back to beat Nelson

National Basketball League champions Waikato rebounded from a heavy defeat yesterday to beat the Nelson Giants in Nelson last night.

Waikato, who suffered a 100-86 loss to Wellington on Friday, recovered quickly to pull out a 76-73 victory over Nelson.

In a tight tussle, the lead changed hands nine times and the scores were tied seven times in the first two and half quarters before Pero Cameron sunk a three pointer with less than six minutes left in the third, giving Waikato the lead for the rest of the game.

Nelson's Jarryd Lloyd lead all scorers with 22, while Justin Bailey lead the scorers for the Pistons with 18, closely followed by Cameron with 17.

Meanwhile, on Auckland's North Shore, the home team proved too strong for Hawke's Bay, winning 83-73.

Hawke's Bay got off to a quick start, with an unanswered ten point run to get the game under way.

However, North Harbour turned the tables following a time out to outscore the visitors 19-2 over the next few minutes.

Both teams fell away in the second half with North Harbour shooting at 34 per cent and Hawke's Bay at 27.

North Harbour's Corey Webster led all scorers with 27, while his teammate Mike Bell collected 11 boards (9 defensive) and 3 blocked shots.

The Christchurch Cougars also came out on top last night, beating the Manawatu Jets 84-58 in Christchurch.

Poara Winitana and Trenton Wurtz had big games for Christchurch, with Winitana taking a 19 point, 10 rebound double double and Wurtz taking 17 points and 13 boards.

Jamil Terrell top scored for the Jets with 18, while Marcel Jones logged a 14 point, 10 rebound double double.

The three games complete the 12th round of the league, with Manawatu, Auckland and Taranaki now eliminated from the top six.

- NZPA