Upset basketball loss

Press, 3 September 1981, Page 4

Upset basketball loss

PA Palmerston North Palmerston North caused the first upset of the national basketball championships when it beat Canterbury, 79-64, yesterday. Playing on home ground in the Manawatu Sports Stadium Palmerston North led from the start. At half-time it had a 42-32 edge on the 1980 champion, Canterbury. The game was a fast one with Canterbury never being able to break its opponent’s lead. Palmerston North let nothing put it off and continually hustled the southerners. It sunk 64 per cent of its free shots compared with Canterbury’s 50 per cent.

Otago caused a minor upset of its own in the women’s section by beating Wellington, 69-43. By half-time Otago had only a nine point advantage but it came back strongly in the second spell. Hamilton clocked up its second win in the men’s section by beating North Shore, 69-47, in the last game of the night. Auckland won its second game of the tournament, beating Napier, 66-53. The Auckland captain. Stan Hill, showed his worth by top scoring with 18 points for the team. Another key player was Maurice Pauriru, who was named player of the match. For Napier Tom Demarcus topscored with 25 points.