The Otago Nuggets fell 66-59 against the Whai in a low-scoring encounter in front of 1700 fans at the Edgar Centre yesterday.
It was a must-win in terms of the Nuggets’ NBL season, where they sit seventh on the table and will be stretched to make the playoffs.
Arguably, the Nuggets were the better side, but lapses in defence and connections, and an inability to make shots count when needed, were costly.
It was a disappointing end after having led at every break, with the Whai struggling to get on the board early on.
The Whai, who were two from 25 from the deep, outscored the Nuggets 18-8 in the final quarter and that really summed it up.
"It’s obviously disappointing", Nuggets coach Brent Matehaere said.
"In the first half we looked good, we played great defence, held them to 28 points.
‘‘They started to get rolling and we were unable to match their, I guess, scoring ability."
It was the Nuggets who started well.
Lawrence put up a nice jumper and fellow import Zaccheus Darko-Kelly followed soon after.
Jayden Bezzant drained a nice step-back shot to trail by one point, but the Nuggets fired back immediately.
Josh Aitcheson’s three went begging, but big Jack Andrew secured the rebound, flicked it back in to Aitcheson, who finished a nice lay-up to give the Nuggets a 21-18 lead on the buzzer.
Darko-Kelly bagged a couple of triples in the second, and the combination between Lawrence and Matt Bardsley to find the hoop was humming.
Andrew, under immense pressure, got around three players in the paint to find the hoop and made it a three-point play.
While the Whai closed the gap somewhat, they still struggled to make it count.
Kruz Perrot-Hunt had a nice jumper, but the Whai struggled from beyond the arch and the Nuggets led 36-28 at halftime.
The Nuggets left holes in the paint to start the third, Perrot-Hunt and Bezzant finding their way to the hoop too easy.
At the other end, Darko-Kelly banged another three, and Lawrence dished off a nice ball to Andrew, who finished off with a dunk.
But the Whai started better, their shots finally landing and they closed the gap to three initially.
Phil Carr nailed his two free throws to make it a one-point game.
Aitcheson banged down a deep three and had a huge block on Jett Thompson’s shot late in the quarter.
With a couple of seconds left on the clock, the Nuggets called a player timeout — and it paid off.
Caleb Smiler flung the ball in to Darko-Kelly, who glided to the hoop and gave the Nuggets a 51-48 lead at the break.
Perrot-Hunt nailed two shots early in the second to give the Whai a 54-51 lead, but nothing fell for the Nuggets, who coughed up too much ball late.
NBL
The scores
Whai 66
Jayden Bezzant 17, Phil Carr 16
Otago Nuggets 59
Kimani Lawrence 20, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly 16
Quarter scores: Nuggets 21-18, 36-28, 51-48.
