Antoine Tisby reaffirmed his status as one of the premier big men in the national league and the Otago Nuggets resumed their winning form in Hamilton last night.
The Nuggets rebounded from their first loss of the season, to the Saints on Tuesday night, with a 97-80 win over the Waikato Pistons.
Tisby has played second fiddle to the dominant BJ Anthony for much of the season, but the American centre was the one hogging the spotlight last night.
Tisby scored 22 of his 36 points (13-of-17 shooting) in the second half, added 13 rebounds and even, to the delight of his team-mates, shot a rare three-pointer.
Fellow import Akeem Wright backed him up with 22 points and 11 boards, Anthony chimed in with 18 and nine, and Hayden Allen added 13 points.
Nuggets coach Alf Arlidge was warm in his praise of Tisby.
''Antoine was just a beast tonight,'' he told the Otago Daily Times from Hamilton.
''He was really, really good. BJ got in a little bit of early foul trouble, so Antoine really took over.''
Arlidge was particularly pleased with the rebounding statistics. The Nuggets, who were dominated in that area by the Saints, thumped the Pistons 47-32 on the boards.
''We did a great job keeping Waikato away from the boards. I think we only let them get one offensive rebound in the second quarter. We started a bit rusty but once we starting making some defensive stops, the whole momentum of the game swung towards us.''
It shaped as a mismatch on paper - the Nuggets went in with the league's best record (8-1); the Pistons with the worst (0-7) - but the early action was anything but.
A tight first quarter finished with the Nuggets holding a slender 22-20 lead.
The visiting side took control with an 11-0 run in the second quarter and held a 48-43 lead at halftime.
While Tisby and Wright gathered the bulk of the points, two of the key contributors of the half were Mark Dickel and Luke Aston. Dickel had no fewer than seven assists by the break - he could only add one more in the second half - while Aston provided a spark off the bench with eight points, including two three-pointers.
Another good run, 13-0, in the third quarter put the Nuggets in pole position. They took a 73-60 lead into the final spell and cruised home.
Marco Alexander led the Pistons with 29 points, while Zack Atkinson had 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Brendon Polyblank missed the game for the Nuggets due to a migraine.
NBL
The scores
Otago Nuggets 97
Antoine Tisby 36, Akeem Wright 22, BJ Anthony 18
Waikato Pistons 80
Marco Alexander 29, Zack Atkinson 23, Garrius Holloman 17
Quarter scores: 1st, 22-20; 2nd, 48-43; 3rd, 73-60.
