The guy could barely hit a shot in the first half but he just kept battling away and found a way to help the Otago Nuggets beat the Southland Sharks 80-68 at the Edgar Centre yesterday.
It was the Nuggets' first win against the Sharks in five attempts and guard Mark Dickel celebrated with a dance for the 1800-strong crowd when there were just a few moments remaining in the match.
Dickel's passing game was flawless and the longer the game went on, the more he imposed his will on the match, finishing with 18 points.
American centre Antoine Tisby was formidable in the paint with 21 points and 16 rebounds, and Sam King made some important baskets with 12 points and six rebounds from the bench.
But for sheer bloodymindedness the award goes to Wright. Just about every time he put up a shot in the opening 20 minutes, the ball found a way to bobble out.
Some of the shots he managed to clunk into the rim, it would have been much, much easier to actually put through the hoop.
The basketball gods had forsaken him for sure but the wiry swingman just kept chipping away and contributed in every way he could. He was tenacious under the hoop with 14 rebounds, and showed great vision with five assists and three steals.
Like all good players, he kept believing. After the sort of game he had had, to drive to the basket the way he was able at the beginning of the fourth quarter showed real class.
If he can score 15 points on a bad night, what would he be capable of on a good night?
"Credit to Akeem to keep battling," Nuggets coach Alf Arlidge said.
"I think his biggest play was at the start of the fourth quarter when we ran a play for him and he just went to the hole and made the shot.
"It was a three-point play with the foul and got us up by [12 points]. It was a big play for us."
The Nuggets went into the halftime break trailing 32-34 but a valuable three-pointer from Riki Buckrell and some strong play from Tisby under the rim saw the Nuggets out-score the Sharks 27-16 and take a nine-point lead into the final quarter.
Tisby had a fantastic tussle with former Tall Black Craig Bradshaw but won the points battle with a strong finish to the match.
With Wright having an off night, the Nuggets made sure Tisby had the ball in his hands and he did not let the side down with seven points down the stretch to help seal the win.
Bradshaw was good with 19 points but lost his cool in the dying moments, tossing Dickel aside and conceding a technical foul.
It was an ugly moment but a demonstration of the feeling between the two sides. Dickel chose that moment to do his wee dance, much to the delight of the crowd.
Despite the obvious joy at winning, Arlidge did his best to play down the performance, describing it as progress and an improvement from last week's loss to the Wellington Saints.
"We played really well in the second half. Mark showed great leadership and our defence was really good.
"Last week, we did not play tough enough defence but this week we definitely did. We didn't miss as many two-footers either. And in the second half we were more patient on offence and took our time."
The Nuggets are now 2-2 while the Sharks slip to 1-3.
In the other game played yesterday, the Manawatu Jets pipped the Wellington Saints 76-75.
On Friday night, the Jets beat the Auckland Pirates 90-80 in Palmerston North.
The Harbour Heat got its first victory with a 80-71 win against the Nelson Giants earlier in the week.
Nuggets v Sharks
The Scores
Nuggets
80
Antoine Tisby 21, Mark Dickel 18, Akeem Wright 15
Sharks 68
Craig Bradshaw 19, Larry Abney 17, Dion Prewster 13
Quarter 16-16, halftime 32-34, third quarter 59-50.
