The Tiger Sharks ended their SIT Zero Fees Southland Sharks Summer league campaign on a high with a 97-89 victory over Central Otago today.
Once the local side got in front early in the first quarter they were never headed but Central stuck in the game all the way, despite falling behind by as many as 21 in the third period.
Turnovers proved costly for the visitors who were without the services of Pierre Poyet and Christian Alberton with the Tiger Sharks full court pressure helping them to win points of turnovers by 34-20.
The Southlanders were balanced in attack with six players finishing in double figures. In previous weeks the load has fallen on captain Tom Cowie, but he was able to play a facilitator role today with Jayson Collett with 22 points to go with 7 boards. Cam Archer continued his impressive development with 19 points and 6 rebounds while Cowie and Jordan Murphy both added 15.
Callum O'Connell led all scorers with 27 points for Central with Sam King's (22p/15r) and Laine O'Connell (17p/12r) both adding double-doubles.
The second game between Dunedin Barbarians and Mako Sharks was cancelled due to player unavailability.