By Mike Lacey
After road wins against Nelson Giants (86-77) and Canterbury Rams (84-56) the Auckland Tuatara sit atop the Sal’s NBL ladder with a perfect 3-0 record.
Once again it was the front court duo of Rob Loe and Chris Johnson that led the way.
Over the two games Chris averaged 21.5 points, 15 rebounds and 3.5 blocks while Rob also put up big numbers – 20.5 points, 12 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
Dontae Russo-Nance celebrated being named the 2021 Male Junior Player of the Year at the BBNZ Awards Dinner on Saturday night by posting 15 points and 5 assists against the Rams.
Brayden Iuli posted an NBL career high against the Rams scoring 13 points. In his first year out of Tauranga Boys College Brayden shot 5 from 7 including 2 from 4 three-pointers.
Congratulations to guard Kainoa Lepou who came on late in the win against the Giants to make his NBL debut.
League individual stats:
Not surprisingly a number of our players feature prominently in various categories of the Sal’s NBL statistics.
Chris Johnson is currently the League’s leading rebounder averaging 14.7 boards per game with Rob Loe not far behind sitting 3rd with 13 rebounds per game. Chris is also equal 1st on shots blocked nailing 3 per contest.
Both Chris (20.0ppg) and Rob (19.3ppg) are amongst the top 10 scorers in the League. Taki Fahrensohn is 14th averaging 15 points per outing.
Dontae Russo-Nance continues to display maturity beyond his years sitting 7th on the assists list (4.7apg), averaging 13.7 points per game, 2.7 steals whilst playing 0ver 35t minutes per game.
The team now get a bit of a break until Monday May 16 when we head to the capital to take on the defending champions the Wellington Saints.