Giants go back-to-back

It's two wins in a row for the NBS Nelson Giants as they put on a performance to remember.

The 92-77 win saw the home team's final import, Theo Akwuba, make an impressive debut and round out the team well.

His addition to the Giants brought size and physicality around the rim at both ends of the court that the team has been missing in previous years.

With foul trouble seeing him have reduced minutes, it was still an impressive 14-point and seven-rebound performance.

Coach Mike Fitchett says that it was a great first outing for the young player from Ole Miss University, who had played in the Finnish league's finals before moving to New Zealand.

"Three blocked shots, but he disrupted the play well. He's a real deterrent in there."

His inclusion in the starting five saw captain Sam Dempster relegated to the bench to begin the game.

But with Kobe Langley, Alex McNaught, Dan Grida and Dan Fotu making up the Giants' starting lineup, it's tough competition to be in that elite five.

"At the moment, that's what it looks like," says Mike.

"We've got a lot of depth in the roster."

And it wasn't on display more than an all-star-like play that saw Dan Grida make a steal, passing it off his backside to Dan Fotu, who had the vision to see Alex in space, who, in turn, alley-ooped it up for the 6'1 Kobe to slam down a dunk.

Kobe had a stand-out performance, with a double-double of 13 points and 15 assists, as he made light work of the defence while also earning five steals and a block.

A seemingly different team made it into the court from previous weeks, with a new intensity that has yet to be seen this season.

They were on fire from the warm-up, missing very few shots, translating into the game as the team posted their highest score in 2024.

Dan Fotu (14pts) also joined Theo for extended stints on the bench due to foul trouble which saw the team's scoring start to slide in the third quarter.

But that gave space for the bench players to make their impact, with Hayden Jones having another impressive performance of the bench.

Sam Dempster's role was also strong, having good minutes but enough time to recooperate between stints to give his patented high-effort and intensity basketball.

"Hayden Jones came out and had a really good game off the bench," says Mike.

"We had seven guys with over 20 minutes today.

"A 15-point win in this league is nothing to turn your nose up at."

The Giants' season takes an extended break as they play the last game of round five next Sunday at home with a 6:30pm tip-off.