Basketball: Second Whanganui NBL game tomorrow between Manawatu Jets and Wellington Saints

After beating the Southland Sharks, Wally Ellenson and his Manawatu Jets are looking for a repeat performance at Springvale Stadium against the Wellington Saints.

No pun intended, but Manawatu's NBL team will be hoping the table topping Wellington Saints bring a case of jetlag to Springvale Stadium tomorrow night.

The Manawatu Jets are riding high after getting their first win of the season over the Southland Sharks at Springvale last Sunday, when this time they managed to hold on in the final quarter for a 104-100 boilover.

The second win in two seasons over the Invercargill-based franchise knocked them down to fourth on the points ladder, and allowed the Saints a little more breathing space on top of the heap.

Coach Paul Henare's team are now 5-0 and made a little bit of history last weekend as they became the first Kiwi NBL side to win across the Tasman after beating the Southern Huskies 91-86 in Hobart.

The Huskies, who have joined the New Zealand competition on a five year deal and earlier in the season barely held off the Jets 100-99 in Palmerston North, had a 17 point lead at one stage over the Saints.

However, Tall Black and NZ Breakers standout Shea Ili shot 25 points with 10 assists, leading a well-rounded group of players, with five of them scoring in double figures, to finish over the top of the Aussies.

Although the Jets are their neighbours, making it the easiest away match to attend, adding another 50 minutes travelling time to get to Whanganui for the Saints could put a little more lead in the shoes following the big trip to Tasmania.

Jets coach Tim McTamney will be hoping his American imports in Wally Ellenson, Daishon Knight and Kuran Iverson can break up the Saints patterns after they played strong games in the Sharks win.

Certainly, the "home" team will be looking to avoid a repeat of July 2018 at Springvale, where the Saints shot the lights out on the Jets in the third quarter on their way to a comprehensive 113-93 victory.

Ili has been the workhorse this year, backed up by Nicholas Kay and Reuben Te Rangi.

Tipoff is 7.30pm.