When the game was in the balance, McKinlay hit a three pointer, grabbed an important rebound at his end, then nailed another three to put the Jets up 79-75 with five minutes to go. “I m starting to feel more comfortable. I wanted to prove to people I can shoot and I belong here.” He also had seven steals for the match, including a couple of important ones at the death, to go with his 15 points and seven rebounds. Taranaki had been threatening, but turnovers proved costly. McKinlay said coach Tim McTamney had given him more game time and he wanted to perform.
Jets coach Tim McTamney said they didn’t cope well with four games in eight days, so he was glad to be back playing at home and following their normal training schedule. “We re pretty excited about playing at home for the first time. In a way, this is our season starting for the second time. It was an awkward eight days. “Trying to acclimate players who have just arrived, play a doubleheader, have a disrupted practice schedule because you’re training and travelling, then to back it up with a doubleheader was probably a bridge too far for us.” He was hopeful of getting a big crowd and for Manawatū fans to get behind the team.
It will be a rematch with the Nuggets, so the Jets won’t have to wait long to make up for their Saturday night loss. On Friday night the Rams were led by EJ Singler, who scored 20 points, shooting five three pointers and had eight rebounds and seven assists. The Rams led 44-39 at halftime after a scrappy second quarter, but the Rams looked more settled after the break. Guards Daishon Knight and Jayden Bezzant again did most of the work for the Jets. Knight scored 24 points, grabbed six rebounds and five assists, while Bezzant scored 20 points and had five rebounds.
Coach Tim McTamney said the first two games showed the difficulty of integrating their two new imports, Daishon Knight and DeAndre Daniels, who have only been out of isolation for just over a week, but they would continue to get better. “In some ways getting wins on the road is a bonus. I felt we had a good opportunity to get two at the weekend, they were both pretty close. “It’s disappointing we didn’t get at least one of them. They were there for the taking.” He said it was important for new players to learn the way the Jets played and it was hard to do that on the fly.