As an Andrew Jones shot sailed through the air – a shot from the three-point line that would have won the Giants a victory over the top-of-the-table Canterbury Rams – the sell-out Trafalgar Centre crowd held its collective breath.
When the shot hit the hoop and bounced wide, it turned to a collective groan.
For all but the final few seconds of the game, the NBS Nelson Giants, seemed to be in control, but the class from the Canterbury Rams showed through as they closed a double-digit deficit in the final quarter to win the round 13 game, 89-87.
The result left the Giants winless at home this year and with just three wins in the season.
But it could have been so different.
For most of the game, the Giants were the better team. An outstanding defensive display laid the foundation for a productive offensive in the first half which led the Giants to a big 50-35 lead at the half time break.
The Giants had many stand outs in the first half, Callum McCrae was a big presence in the paint, Hayden Jones, who is finding his feet at this level, but none were better than American import Alex Robinson who drove the Giants forward from the back court.
The Rams came out strong in the second half and were within four points in the final quarter, with all the momentum until Alex Robinson came up with three huge plays to give the hosts a double-digit lead with just six minutes left in the game.
At that point, it looked as if the home side had repelled the Rams fightback.
Then former-Giant Tohi Smith-Milner hit two big threes to drag the Rams back into the contest in the final minutes. With less than a minute remaining Canterbury took the lead for the first time since the first few minutes of the match.
With just 3.1 seconds left in the game, Canterbury’s Max Darling missed two free throws which would have given his side a four-point lead.
That gave the Giants hope, with one play remaining.
That play got the ball in the hands of Andrew Jones whose shot bounced harmlessly away to hand the Rams a famous come-from-behind victory.
Scores:
Quarter 1 – 24-19 Giants
Quarter 2 – 50-35 Giants
Quarter 3 – 72-63 Giants
Quarter 4 – 89-87 Rams.
