Coach Aaron Young was delighted with how his side handled their first road assignment of the 2022 Sal’s NBL as they came away from Nelson with a crucial 86-77 win over the Giants.
The front court of Rob Loe and Chris Johnson were influential again as the Tuatara won for the second time in two starts.
“It was the first time on the road for us as a group and it was a good experience – going into a foreign environment and the boys responded,” Young said.
“We had a great start compared to last week and we were up for it. The Trafalgar Centre is a great place to play, and the group enjoyed it.”
American import Alonzo Mourning III was very impressive for the Giants in their opening round win but the Tuatara front court made life difficult for him all night and they minimised the impact he had on the game.
“I’m really happy with how we executed our game plans,” Young explained. “We made Mourning really work – Rob asked questions of him and CJ did a good job getting in on him at times as well.
“I thought Taki [Fahrensohn] had a really strong game at both ends of the floor. I thought he was very aggressive with the ball.
“He took a big step forward offensively.
“Rubes [Reuben Fitzgerald] had some really good moments as well and played well in the second half.”
The team flew to Christchurch on Saturday morning for the second game in the week two double-header as they prepare to face the Canterbury Rams from 3pm tomorrow.
Young expects them to be a tough team to beat.
“It is basically a totally different team to what we saw last week. They are guard dominant, so we want to match up there.
“We’ll use our size obviously and I feel we are in a really good space right now so we will enjoy the experience of being together on the road as a group.”
Tomorrow’s match tips off at 3pm from Cowles Stadium and is broadcast live on Sky Sport 3.