The Pacific Jeweller Saints faced the Southland Sharks on Wednesday at TSB Bank arena in Wellington. The Saints came into this game top of the table and a perfect 4 from 4 wins, led behind flashy veterans Lindsey Tait, Corey Webster and Dion Prewster. They contributed with 19, 31 and 11 points respectively. The Saints suffocated the Sharks and limited stars Rueben TeRangi to just 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting and Kevin Braswell to 16 points on 7 of 16 shooting. The bench also didn't do much with just 14 points. Final score: 94- 76 Sharks

The second game saw the fourth placed Nelson Giants play the second to last placed Taranaki Mountainair’s at TSB Stadium in New Plymouth. The Mountainair’s never really got going and their lack of stars meant they had to use players efficiently, however they couldn’t overcome the star-studded Giants. American powerhouse Jamal Boykin had an efficient 20 points and 9 rebounds on 9-12 shooting, while Pace, Vukona and Bloxham contributed with 21, 14 and 9points respectively. Final score: 92 – 76 Giants.

The third game saw the second placed Hawks face the bottom of the table Rangers, who are yet to get a win this season at Pettigrew Green Arena. The Hawks were confident in the win, dominating from start to finish despite strong games from the Rangers’ Bailey and Devendorf who had monster games, putting up 34 and 27 points respectively. The Hawks, led by Barlett, Scott (who both had 22 points) and American Import Kareem Johnson were in cruise control over the Rangers. They also limited Breaker Darryl Corletto to just 4 points on 2 of 13 shooting. Final score: 99 – 81, Hawks.

Cool American player #2 - Kareem Johnson

The fourth game saw a mid table clash of the Southland Sharks vs the Manawatu Jets at Arena Manawatu. Rueben TeRangi and Kevin Braswell really stepped up in this game and showed everyone that the Sharks are once again title contenders. They had 23 and 31 points respectively and limited Jeremiah Trueman to a solid, but beatable 19 points and 8 rebounds. The Sharks dominated throughout the game and star Breaker TeRangi was pretty awesome. Final score: Sharks 96-81

The fifth game saw the resurrected Rams take on competition veterans, the Nuggets. The Nuggets are looking relatively strong coming into this season and pounced on a less experienced Rams side. Nuggets veterans Sam King and captain Brendon Polyblank both scored in double digits (22 and 16) to help the Nuggets secure a victory. Final Score: 82 – 64 Nuggets.

Game 6 saw the Corletto led Rangers take on the Boykin lead Giants. The Giants were just too good behind Boykin who had a solid 21 points and 8 rebounds, Pace also had 14 monster boards. Despite Corletto’s 17 points, the Giants suffocated him, forcing him to shoot just 7 of 19 from the field. Final Score: 91 – 79 Giants.

Game 7 saw the Hawks back up from their Friday win against mid table Manawatu Jets. This game was closer than expected as the Jets had a good spread on their scoring however, the Kareem Johnson led Hawks were able to pick up a win behind his and Barlett’s scoring efforts. Final score: - Hawks 81 – Jets 72

The final game of the round was a nail biter; it saw the Saints narrowly defeat the Otago Nuggets. Tait, Webster and Prewster all scored in double digits, (21,26 and 14) and similarly, the Nuggets had 3 players score in double digits, Polyblank, Payne and Carter had 21,17 and 20 respectively, however it wasn’t enough to fend off the Saints. Final score: Saints 77 – Nuggets 76