KEY POINTS:
Wellington's American centre Nick Horvath is the surprise name among 57 triallists for the Tall Blacks team to play Olympic qualifying games against Australia in August.
Horvath has applied for New Zealand citizenship and will compete with Auckland's Casey Frank for the one spot allowed a naturalised player under FIBA regulations.
Coach Nenad Vucinic will hold three camps, from which a NZ Universities team will also be selected.
The import rotation has begun, with Otago dropping Jameel Pugh because he wasn't scoring and the Saints letting Aussie Andrew Rice go.
The Nuggets are chasing 2006 import Branduinn Fullove who was cited for throwing a ball at a referee. The Saints have signed 2.07m forward Bakari Hendrix, who played for Gonzaga University. Rice, meanwhile, has signed for Hawkes Bay and scored 14 as the Hawks beat Otago 93-81 on Thursday. The Nuggets relying on their other import Justin Bailey for 32.
Everard Bartlett top-scored for the Hawks with 21 and Paul Henare provided 11 assists, import Kareem Johnson shot 19 and took 10 rebounds. The Hawks were up 31-10 after the first quarter and led throughout.
The Auckland Stars extended their run to five-one when they beat Manawatu Jets 99-89. The Stars took a big early lead which the Jets cut back in the third quarter. The Jets suffered from a slow start by their top scorers, Stacey Lambert, who failed to score in the first half before shooting 17, and import Brandon Payton who left his second half scoring till too late.
Lindsay Tait again top-scored for the Stars with 17. They host Waikato at the ASB Stadium tomorrow night while the Jets play Harbour Heat at the North Shore Events Centre.
