Wellington Saints American import Kerwin Roach throws down spectacular dunk against Southland Sharks.
The Wellington Saints have delivered a statement to the rest of the National Basketball League by storming home to hammer the Southland Sharks 105-73 at the TSB Arena in Wellington on Friday night. The Saints overcame an early eight-point deficit to run away with a dominant 32-point victory over the previously unbeaten Sharks to maintain their own perfect record in 2021 and move to the top of the Sal’s NBL standings.
Marty Melville/PHOTOSPORT
Taane Samuel paced the Saints with a game-high 26 points in their big win over the Sharks on Friday.
Published April 24, 2021, 9:55 PM
Ken Tuffin, left, sees action during the final minutes of the Wellington Saints’ 95-73 win over the Otago Nuggets in the New Zealand National Basketball League. (Screengrabbed from NBL TV coverage)
Ken Tuffin had a solid debut for the Wellington Saints’ 95-73 rout of the defending champion Otago Nuggets Saturday, April 24, in the opener of New Zealand’s National Basketball League at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin.
The Fil-Kiwi finished with five points on 2-of-4 shooting with three rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes to help the Saints, back after skipping last year’s shortened season, won the season-opening battle pitting the last two NBL champions.
Kerwin Roach scored 19 points as the Wellington Saints thumped the Otago Nuggets in Dunedin.
Normal service has resumed, it seems, as the Wellington Saints returned to the NBL in style on opening night in Dunedin. Having been one of three teams to opt out of last year’s Covid-19 induced Showdown competition, the perennial heavyweights were back to business in fine fashion on Saturday, downing the Otago Nuggets 95-73 at the Edgar Centre. Having claimed four titles, and been runners-up twice, in the six seasons prior to the unique last one – including going a perfect 20-0 in 2019 – the Saints, even with a largely new-look squad, were quick to stamp their mark and put the Nuggets feel-good story from 2020 well in the past.
Published April 23, 2021, 10:24 PM
Photo from Wellington Saints
Ken Tuffin is set to make his debut for new team Wellington Saints in the New Zealand National Basketball League Saturday, April 24, against the defending champion Otaga Nuggets in Dunedin.
The former Far Eastern University mainstay and the Saints will take on the Nuggets at 3:30 p.m. Manila time as he looks to build on his solid rookie campaign last season with the Taranaki Mountainairs.
Wellington acquired Tuffin as part of its return after failing to defend the 2019 crown by skipping last year’s shortened season.
Tuffin averaged 9.2 points and 4.3 rebounds for Taranaki which made it to the semifinals before signing with his hometown team in the offseason.
April 1 is Chris Beard Day for Texas and Texas Tech
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Will Chris Beard return to the Forty Acres?
Since Shaka Smart left the Texas Longhorns for the Marquette Golden Eagles last Friday, that question has largely defined the coaching search in Austin for athletics director Chris Del Conte.
Over recent days, there’s been a remarkable lack of information coming out from the Longhorns program and the Red Raiders program.
Other than Del Conte interviewing Brooklyn Nets assistant Royal Ivey on Sunday and the initial positive connections between Beard and Texas on Friday, things have largely remained quiet.