Brown's 21 points lead Rams to NBL semifinals
MBB: It's Brown's fourth-straight game with at least 20 points
The Canterbury Rams survived a disastrous second-half on Thursday to rally past the Hawkes Bay Hawks, 103-95 in overtime, to advance to the New Zealand National Basketball League’s semifinals. Tevin Brown scored 21 points to help the Rams survive and advance.
Thanks to Brown’s big night, helped by 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc, Canterbury led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. That’s when things started to fall apart and Hawkes rallied. The Bay Hawks would ultimately take an 85-80 lead with less than a minute to play and they seemed poised to move on. Canterbury would then get three-pointers from Troy Baxter and Corey Webster to tie the game at 86 with 0:23 remaining. That’s when controversy erupted.
As Hawkes’ Derone Waukawa tried to make the winning-game basket, the Bay Hawks believed Canterbury had committed goaltending on the shot. The referees didn’t call it, and the game went to overtime. The Hawkes’ players and coaches were incensed that no video review was done to see if goaltending occurred. Canterbury would go on to win the game in overtime.
After the game, the NBL released a clarifying statement about the end of the game. It read: “On the final possession of the fourth quarter, no violation was called by any referee on the final shot, and as a result, this could not be referred for review by the (replay system) as per FIBA Rule F.3.2.”
Brown not only scored 21 points, but also grabbed seven rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked a shot. The Rams advance to the NBL semifinals where they’ll face the Otago Nuggets on Saturday.