As far as farewells go, this one was pretty sweet.
The Mike Pero Nelson Giants played their final game of the season at the Trafalgar Centre on Wednesday night, comfortably beating the Manawatu Jets 96-71.
The table-topping Giants will now face four games on the road before the finals series tips off in Auckland from August 10-13. The first of those away games is against the Jets in three days’ time in Palmerston North.
And they’ll head into that final stretch in the best possible frame-of-mind after their big win tonight.
From early in the first quarter it was clear the Giants had too much fire power for their under-strength visitors. Jarrod West’s aggressive defence put the Jets on the back foot early in the game, ultimately grabbing five steals in that first quarter, helping the hosts to a 15-0 run early in the quarter.
The Jets were without two of their star imports and were dealt a further blow when Nathaniel Salmon wasn’t included on the team sheet meaning he couldn’t take the court.
The only period of the match that the Jets had the better of their hosts was in the third quarter when the Jets out-scored the Giants 10-2 to close the gap to fewer than 15 points.
But that’s where the attempted comeback it ended.
Jordan Schwalger showed that you can’t beat a good big-man and towards the end of the third quarter he grabbed three quick offensive rebounds and converting them into baskets to end the quarter well for the hosts.
Nic Trathen started the final quarter with a big one-handed dunk, a highlight in a big game for forward as he scored a game-high 16 points.
Coach Mike Fitchett used his side’s clear advantage to give plenty of court time to his bench ahead of the final run into the playoffs with Jarred Burnett and Garth Jepsen both hitting big three pointers in the final quarter to bring the sell-out crowd to its feet.
The Giants top the Sal’s NBL table with 20 points, with ten wins and four loses from their 14 games. Mike says his side is feeling positive heading into the final four games of the season.
“The advantages of being first or second in the playoff structure is huge so that’s a big focus for us.
“We are in a nice position at the moment to make that top two.”
A key player for that push will be the Giants captain Sam Dempster, who was awarded the People’s Choice Player of the Year award after the game.
“To have your best season when it’s your 15thseason is kind of ridiculous,” says Mike. “I don’t know how he’s done it but he’s having a whale of a season.”
Sam, after collecting the award, told the Trafalgar Centre faithful that the Giants were heading to the finals in Auckland “with the goal of doing big things”.
Young guard Alex Mcnaught was awarded Young Player of the Year.
