Rams see off struggling Airs in New Plymouth

NZ Sports Wire

Photo by: John Velvin

No Tai Wynyard and no Taylor Britt, no problem for the Canterbury Rams.

The Rams took over in the second and third quarters to rout the struggling Taranaki Airs 103-74 to open Week 8 of the National Basketball League (NBL) at New Plymouth’s TSB Stadium on Thursday night.

Import guard Troy Baxter Jr led the Rams with a game-high 26 points (9/16 FG, 2/7 3pt, 6/7 FT), 11 rebounds and six blocks off the bench, while they had four other players score in double figures, winning for the seventh time in nine games.

Fellow American Tevin Brown, Kiwi forward Max Darling and guard Quinn Clinton also put up double-doubles, Brown with 18 points (6/16 FG, 3/9 3pt), 10 boards and six assists; Darling with 16 points (6/15 FG) and 12 rebounds; and Clinton with 15 points (4/6 FG, 4/6 3pt) and 10 assists.

Local product Kaia Isaac, thrust into the starting five in the absence of recent Tall Black Taylor Britt, scored a career-high 19 points (7/11 FG, 5/7 3pt), while Walter Brown had seven points, six rebounds and four blocks.

Anzac Rissetto top-scored for the home team, with 17 points (7/11 FG) and seven boards, while import David Azore had 15 points (5/19 FG), five rebounds, six assists and four steals, fellow American Anthony Hilliard 13 points (6/18 FG, 1/10 3pt) and five boards, and Quintin Bailey 13 points (6/12 FG) and eight rebounds.

The Airs, who were out-rebounded 58-41, hit just 1-of-19 on three-point attempts, while the Rams hit 16 triples to win convincingly, despite committing 15 turnovers and allowing 58 points in the paint.

In an evenly-contested first quarter that featured nine lead changes and six ties, neither team led by more than three points. Rissetto took advantage of the Rams only having to genuine big men, with 13 points in the first.

After a Bailey basket putting Taranaki up three in the first minute of the second period, it was all Canterbury until halftime. The Rams went on a 15-2 run – started by a Baxter Jr three-point play and ended with back-to-back threes from Clinton and Isaac – to lead by 10 points.

The visitors extended the lead to 16 points by halftime and it was a similar story early in the third quarter, with the Rams putting together a 14-2 run, including threes from Isaac and Darling, to go up by 30.

Baxter Jr had 10 points in the second and Brown 13 points in the third as the Rams outscored the Airs 61-35 in the middle quarters, hitting nine triples along the way.

The Rams (7-2) now head to the Capital to face the Wellington Saints (3-5) on Saturday (tip-off 5pm), while the Airs (2-8) have more than a week before they host the Saints next Sunday (tip-off 4pm).

Canterbury Rams 103 (Troy Baxter Jr 26, Kaia Isaac 19, Tevin Brown 18, Max Darling 16, Quinn Clinton 15) Taranaki Airs 74 (Anzac Rissetto 17, David Azore 15, Anthony Hilliard 13, Quintin Bailey 13). 1Q: 24-25, HT: 53-37, 3Q: 85-60