AUS - Gibson shakes shooting blues; conquers hometown Hawks

WOLLONGONG (NBL) - Adam Gibson has shaken off his shooting slump to lead the Gold Coast Blaze to a remarkable 72-70 victory over the Wollongong Hawks in Round 11 of the NBL.

The struggling Blaze had only seven players available from their main roster, yet managed to hold the second placed Hawks to just 36% shooting from the field and steal victory on the final buzzer to spark jubilant celebrations.

Gibson was a strong performer as a starter for Australia at the 2010 FIBA World Championship with the exception of his three point shooting, connecting on just 6/20. Those perimeter woes have continued into the NBL season, but against the Hawks Gibson shelved his perimeter shot with impressive results.

The two time NBL championship player finished with 22 points on 10/18 shooting (9/16 2pfg), 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and took the points in his battle with early MVP candidate Gary Ervin (18 points, 7/20 fg, 9 rebounds).

Gibson received strong support from import big man Ira Clark (14 points, 5/10 fg, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks). The rest of the Blaze squad shot 11/44 from the field, but two players who struggled to connect all night made the big plays to secure the win.

Boomer Mark Worthington (11 points, 8 rebounds) sliced to the basket to tie the game at 70-70 with 46 seconds to play, and then fired a three point shot with time about to expire. It rimmed out but import Daryl Hudson (10 points, 5 rebounds) flew in for an acrobatic, game-winning tip-in to move the Blaze to 5-7 and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Wollongong (9-4), who have now dropped two straight home games after winning 15 in a row, received good service from former Boomers Oscar Forman (18 points, 8 rebounds) and Glen Saville (10 points, 6 rebounds).

In Adelaide, FIBA U19 gold medallist Rhys Carter nailed a three-pointer with time expiring to send the game between the Adelaide 36ers and Townsville Crocs into overtime in front of 4465 raucous fans. Crocs guard Michael Cedar missed two free throws with seven seconds remaining to set up Carter's heroics, but he redeemed himself with two big triples in the extra period to secure Townsville's 99-97 win.

Former Chicago Bull Luke Schenscher was the star for Townsville (7-7), recording 25 points and 10 rebounds in his best game of the year. Import point guard Will Blalock bounced back from a poor game last round with 10 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, while returning import Rosell Ellis was solid as ever with 12 points and 7 rebounds.

For Adelaide (4-7), sharpshooting guard Darren Ng nailed 21 points, first game import Ron Howard impressed with 17 points, while forward Jacob Holmes had 13 points and 16 rebounds.

In the battle of the cellar dwellers, the Melbourne Tigers (3-9) have held off the Sydney Kings, 82-73. Melbourne led by as many as 13 in the third quarter, but with 3875 vocal fans behind them, the Kings twice reduced the margin to a basket.

In the end though, the play of Corey Williams (22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals), Eric Devendorf (23 points, 9/13 fg) and Luke Nevill (15 points, 15 rebounds) proved too much for the struggling Kings (1-11), who were led by impressive former Augusta State superstar Ben Madgen (17 points ).

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA