The Wellington Saints will take scant consolation from the fact they participated in one of the great advertisements for basketball, in losing 100-99 to the Hawke's Bay Hawks in an absolute thriller at TSB Bank Arena tonight.

In front of a vocal, near-capacity crowd, the previously NBL-leading Saints were unable to withstand a strong fourth-quarter run from a Hawks team who now take the home side's place at the top of the table.

Nine points up at the start of the final quarter, Saints coach Pero Cameron sat point guard Lindsay Tait on the bench and it was hardly a coincidence that within three minutes the Hawks had leveled the scores at 83-all.

Vocal at other times this season, there was little Cameron could do than watch on silently and trust his players to find a way to win.

Sadly they couldn't, as Hawks import Galen Young scored from an inbounds pass with four seconds remaining to hand his team a deserved win.

Few regular-season games reach great heights, but the playoff intensity between the Saints and Hawks was striking. In practical terms that's still five games away for the Saints, but we definitely got a preview of what to expect.

The fouls were hard, defences stifling and howls of injustice from the benches coming thick and fast.
If the whistle went, the coaches were up and protesting, regardless of the fact the referees were yet to indicate which team had committed the foul.

For the Hawks, who defend tenaciously but sometimes struggle to score, it was a familiar arm wrestle. But, unable to find their usual rhythm offensively, it was a different matter for the Saints.

They might have been down the odd time this season, but the Saints' march to the top of the NBL table had been characterised by big scoring runs. With the Hawks battling at every possession, though, the home team had to be content with accumulating points in a tit for tat manner.

Scoring by whatever means possible suited someone like Casey Frank, but the Saints' finesse players clearly found things frustrating. They had to rely on jump shots, which is fine if you shoot as well as Corey Webster, it's just that few guys do.

Down 54-53 at halftime, Cameron was soon indebted to the contribution of Tait. A nice player, with plenty of skill and all that, it was his toughness which shone as the second half progressed.

Not only was he brave enough to dribble though the heart of the Hawks defence and score, but his ability to create shots for others was striking. If he'd been playing the point position for the Hawks, rather their limited duo of Jarrod Kenny and Aidan Daly, then the match wouldn't have been a contest at all.

In Dunedin, the Otago Nuggets, who ended a 33-game losing streak 13 days ago, won for the second time in three games, holding on down the stretch to beat the Taranaki Mountain Airs 92-88.

Tall Blacks forward Craig Bradshaw finished with 24 points and seven rebounds and American guard Scott O'Gallagher had 23 points as the Nuggets joined the Mountain Airs and Auckland Pirates with two wins at the bottom of the NBL standings.

NBL RESULTS

Bay Hawks 100 (Galen Young 25, Josh Pace 21, Paora Winitana 15, Arthur Trousdell 13) Wellington Saints 99 (Casey Frank 20, Corey Webster 20, Troy McLean 14, Lindsay Tait 13, Kareem Johnson 12, Erron Maxey 10). HT: 54-53.

Otago Nuggets 92 (Craig Bradshaw 24, Scott O'Gallagher 23, Lance Allred 18, Mark Morrison 11, Sam To'omata 10) Taranaki Mountain Airs 88 (Jack Leasure 32, Marcus Campbell 24, Aaron Bailey-Nowell 11, Zane Meehl 10). HT: 47-43.