Sam Timmins was unstoppable. Caleb Asberry had a chip on his shoulder. And coach Jonathan Yim was determined to leave Invercargill with a title to his name. The Southland Sharks made sure of it, beating the Wellington Saints 104-101 in overtime in front of a sold-out Stadium Southland to lift their first NBL title since 2018 on Sunday. Yim, who made a rousing victory lap on the final whistle and was brought to tears, finishes a remarkable two-year tenure in Southland, taking the team from bottom of the table to back-to-back finals. Locked 91-91 at the end of regular time, the Sharks lifted to another level during overtime. Keylan Boone drained a triple and the Sharks hustled for everything defensively. Donte Ingram added two threes and Carlin Davison, who finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, flew above the mess to dunk the ball for the Saints. Asberry, who was overlooked for the league’s all star five, added his first from beyond the arc to give the Sharks a two-point lead with less than 40 seconds on the clock. Boone added two free throws to make it a four-point lead and they held on for a deserved victory. Timmins, who was outrageous with 23 points and 21 rebounds and was named the game MVP, was overjoyed. “It’s hard to put in to words,’’ Timmins told Sky Sport. “This group is just so deserving. We got there last year, we were one game short. We all bought it, we all sacrificed, we all came back and we got it done.” There was plenty of energy in the rematch of last year’s final in which the Saints won 88-83. The Saints, without Hyrum Harris and Izayah Le’afa , were physical across the floor. Elijiah Pepper, who finished with 32 points, put the ball on a string to Davison. Tobias Cameron weaved through the Saints defence for Timmins to finish. Akech Aliir settled things for the Saints, Pepper made a fast break and dropped it off for Davison, who gave the Saints their first lead of the gam Boone tipped in a wayward three for the Sharks to trail 25-21 at the break. Aliir found an easy path to the hoop, but Jones found his own on a roll at the other end of the floor. Timmins found himself in a battle with Aliir in the paint. But the Sharks centre found his way to the bucket. The Sharks picked up their own rebounds. Brayden Inger made the Saints pay, when he nailed a triple off one to return the lead to the Sharks. The Sharks held a 45-41 lead at halftime. Pepper found his radar knocking down back-to-back-to-back triples to lock the scores early — and Aliir nailed another. Timmins forced a Saints error, picked up the second-chance points at the other end of the floor, and finished another as he roared at the crowd. Davison picked off a Sharks throw in and Pepper nailed yet another three, as the Saints started to rile up the Sharks fans. The Saints led 72-68 at the break. Both teams traded points from deep. The Sharks closed the gap to one — and Boone gave them the lead with four minutes to go. Cameron put his body on the lane, getting in the lane of Pepper to make it tough for the league MVP in the final minutes. But nothing could separate them 91-91 at the end of regular time. NBL final The scores Southland Sharks 104 Caleb Asberry 24, Sam Timmins 23 Wellington Saints 101 Elijah Pepper 32, Akech Aliir 22 Quarter scores: Saints 25-21, 41-45, 72-68, 91-91.
