Basketball Rams’ heat wins

Press, 4 July 1983, Page 23

Basketball Rams’ heat wins

It took the 3ZM Canterbury men’s basketball team a long time to realise that perpetual motion was the best method of keeping warm at Cowles Stadium on Saturday afternoon. When it applied the heat in the last 20 minutes, Nelson-. Bowater-Datsun froze and allowed the Rams to coast to ai 98-85 win. In the first half, Canterbury was lethargic and its constant refusal to change a zone defence gave Nelson an abundance of chances to capitalise on a game pattern which had many flaws. In this period, the Canterbury guards, Clyde Huntley, Dave Edmonds and Chris Dobbs, had to work hard. It was a different story in the second half. Canterbury immediately started to play as a team. The tempo rose 50 per cent and the forwards began to complement the hard work of the guards. More importantly, the forwards realised that rebounding was also part of their duties. The Canterbury forwards completely dominated the boards in the last half. A half-time score-line of 50-41 in Nelson’s favour was soon overtaken by Canterbury. Mr Todd took over as coach a few weeks ago and Canterbury has now won three of its four matches under his care. These wins have now placed Canterbury equal second last on the Countrywide league ladder with Nelson, but the superior goal average of the Rams puts it out of the pro-motion-relegation zone — in the meantime. Both Canterbury and Nelson have two games left in the league. Nelson was a much harder

team to beat than Porirua was the previous Saturday. “They were better on defence and gave some of us a hard time,” Edmonds said. The coach of the Nelson team, Mr Dave Taylor, summed up his side’s performance in a few words. "When we should have taken the attitude of being ‘free’ in the first 10 minutes of the second half we froze,” he said. It took Nelson 10 minutes to score its first points in the second spell and during this time Canterbury got ahead. Nelson’s cause was not helped by three of its players being fouled off in the last quarter and a somewhat surprising inability to handle Canterbury’s continued press. The Americans, Bill Mercer and Tom Lesko, scored more than half of Nelson’s points. Mercer got 33 points, 21 in the first half, and it was surprising he was switched to a semiguard role in the second spell. Lesko (19 points) was Nelson’s outstanding rebounder, perhaps the best of the match. The captain, Brent Wright, was always dangerous when allowed to settle for his shot just inside the 6.5 m line. Again the player of the match, Huntley was his usual ' übiquitous self. Huntley’s 33 points lifted his total in the last four games to 150 and a season total of 326. The mercurial Dobbs peaked in the right time for the Rams, and if Edmonds’ second half effort was in complete contrast to the first 20 minutes — at this stage he was Canterbury’s main scorer with 14 points — he was generally great value.

Canterbury’s shooting average was 44 per cent, scoring 39 of its 89 attempts, and also gained 20 points from 25 free throws. Nelson’s over-all percentage was slightly lower after a 54 per cent first-half average. The brothers Milligan, Robin and Keith, provided a notable first as referees of the league match. Keith, who now lives in Napier, and Robin, of Christchurch, had previously controlled two games together during their careers, both national club championships. The first was at Hutt Valley in 1979 and the second at Auckland in 1981. The scores were: 3ZM Canterbury: 98 (C. Huntley 33, D. Edmonds, D. Usmar both 14, C. Dobbs 11, L. Dixon 10, K. Ritsma, A. Bennett both 6, I. Webb 4). Nelson-Bowater-Datsun 85 (B. Mercer 33, T. Lesko 19, B. Wright 14, T. Shallcross 7, A. Campbell 6, D. Jacob 4, A. Webster 2). Half-time: Nelson 50, Canterbury 41. Tne referees were Messrs R. Milligan (Christchurch) and K. Milligan (Napier).