Southern Huskies have been consigned to the scrapheap in their inaugural season in the NZNBL
The Southern Huskies have have been consigned to the NZNBL scrapheap after a crushing loss to Southland.
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AN avalanche of three point bombs from NBL veteran Todd Blanchfield has consigned the Southern Huskies to the NZNBL scrapheap in their inaugural season in the league.
Fighting for their playoff survival against Southland – the two teams were jostling for the last spot in the top four – the Sharks buried the Huskies 93-73 at their home fortress.
The absence of skipper Craig Moller (NBL team duties) was never more evident as the man he would have guarded on the wing Blanchfield erupted for 35 points and nine rebounds, including a staggering 8-13 from long range.
The Illawarra Hawk caught fire early by nailing his first four shots as the Sharks bolted out to an 18-4 lead midway through the first period, a gap the Huskies were never able to claw back.
The visitors closed within four at one point in the second quarter only for the hosts to go on an 8-0 run in just over a minute to again skip clear, and by the last change the margin was 21 points.
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Former Hobart Charger Jarrad Weeks was at his lively best with 12 points, six assists and a pair of steals, and the only starter for the Sharks who didn’t reach double figures Hyrum Harris (six points) stuffed the stat sheet in other categories with 12 rebounds, six assists, two blocks and a steal.
Southland had 18 assists in total compared to the Huskies’ nine, while the home outfit smashed their opponents on the glass 59-29 _ 22 of which were on the offensive end.
Coming off a tough loss to Canterbury the night before and already without Moller, the Huskies were also left a man down on the bench with Bryan Michaels (knee) declaring himself unfit before tip-off.
And compounding problems was an injury to exciting guard Tre Nichols, who battled manfully through a chipped bone in his ankle after spending several hours in hospital earlier in the day.
“We are pretty banged up… it has been a long few weeks, they fought it out, we basically just right now aren’t good enough,” coach Anthony Stewart said.
“I can’t question their effort, they worked hard, we were just outplayed by three quality NBL players.
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“Todd Blanchfield had 35 points and 10 rebounds in a must win game, big time player, it is why he gets paid in the league.
“The big difference is we just don’t have a go-to guy at the moment when things get hard, and I think a couple of guys have found it tough this year.”
Marcel Jones led the way for the Huskies, scoring 25 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.
The side has four matches remaining in 2019 after next weekend’s bye, and will host Taranaki at the Silverdome on June 29.
adam.j.smith@news.com.au
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