THE Franklin Bulls' late fourth-quarter surge fell flat as they failed in their upset bid against the Hawke's Bay Hawks, 95-90, Saturday in the 2021 NZ NBL season at Pettigrew Green Arena.
Devondrick Walker spurred the visitors' 10 unanswered points to finish the game after Hawke's Bay lost grip of a 12-point lead late in the third quarter and found itself behind, 88-85, with 3:43 left.
It was a disheartening defeat for the also-ran Franklin as it failed to find the bottom of the net, save for a consolation jumper from Isaac Davidson at the buzzer to cut the final spread to just five points.
Walker led the Hawks in this sixth straight win with 21 points on 5-of-13 shooting from threes, to go with seven steals, four rebounds, and four assists.
Ethan Rusbatch also scored 21 points, on top of three dimes, two boards, and two steals, and Jordan Hunt came off the bench with 20 points.
Rhys Vague also had 12 points, six assists, and three rebounds, Hyrum Harris got 10 points, nine boards, and four dimes, and Derone Raukawa also played big late before wounding up with six points, three assists, and two rebounds in the win to push Hawke's Bay up to 10-3.
The Bulls, on the other hand, tasted their fourth straight loss to drop to 4-11.
Davidson paced Franklin with 21 points built on three triples, alongside six rebounds and three assists.
Kyrin Galloway registered a double-double of 20 points, 13 boards, and two assists, and Jett Thompson had 12 points and four dimes in a game where the Bulls crawled their way back from a 77-65 deficit at the 2:20 mark of the third canto.
Fil-Kiwi gunner Joseph Nunag corralled six points as he made both of his treys, while also dishing out two assists in the defeat.
Franklin takes a week off before taking on cellar-dweller Taranaki Mountainairs (2-11) at home next Saturday.
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