SIT Zero Fees Southland Sharks v James Blond Supercity Rangers, Saturday 8 April 7:00pm at ILT Stadium Southland.
REGULAR SEASON RECORDS: Sharks Home: 2017: 1-1, 2016: 6-3, 2015: 9-0 Rangers Away: 2017: 1-1, 2016: 5-4, 2015: 7-3
Head to Head 2016: Rangers by 8 (AKL), Rangers by 3 (INV), Sharks by 9 (INV) Head to Head Overall: Sharks 7, Rangers 3 Head to Head in Invercargill: Sharks 5, Rangers 1
Average winning margin in Invercargill: 15.0 points Average Score Head to Head in Invercargill: Sharks 99-85
NOTEWORTHY: • Rangers recorded their first (and only) win in Invercargill on April 28 last year, holding off the Sharks to win by 3. This was the night Invercargill was announced as the 2016 NBL Finals venue.
• The Rangers that night included 2017 Shark Reuben Te Rangi, Corey Webster (now a member of the Saints), Mika Vukona (out injuried) and import points machine Eric Devendorf who has also not returned in 2017.
• The 2017 Rangers are headed by Mitch McCarron who sits second behind Corey Webster on the League’s Points Per Game. He averages 26.8 points on 47.6% from the field along with 8 rebounds per game and 4.8 assists. Unsurprisingly, McCarron sits second on the League’s Index of Success rankings, trailing only Canterbury’s Marcel Jones in terms of overall statistics.
• Other prominent league leaders include Dillon Boucher’s 8.5 average rebound average (5th in the league), just behind Southland’s Nick Kay (8.8), Lindsay Tait’s 5.3 assists per game (5th in the league) and Nnanna Egwu’s league leading 1.8 blocks per game. Egwu also leads the league in Total Offensive Rebounds on 24 for the season to date.
PAST MEETINGS (Invercargill games in bold)
27/05/16 Southland Sharks 107 - 98 Super City Rangers 28/04/16 Southland Sharks 100 - 103 Super City Rangers 02/04/16 Super City Rangers 87 - 79 Southland Sharks 04/07/15 Southland Sharks 95 - 80 Super City Rangers 18/06/15 Super City Rangers 90 - 95 Southland Sharks 01/05/15 Southland Sharks 84 - 69 Super City Rangers 14/06/14 Super City Rangers 97 - 94 Southland Sharks 11/04/14 Southland Sharks 117 - 88 Super City Rangers 16/06/13 Super City Rangers 69 - 82 Southland Sharks 19/04/13 Southland Sharks 93 - 74 Super City Rangers
