TAANE Samuel bounced back with a big 26-point explosion as the Wellington Saints once again stamped their class with a 105-73 demolition of Southland Sharks on Friday in the 2020-21 NZ NBL season at TSB Bank Arena.
The former La Salle big man was on fire for the home team, going 5-of-8 from deep while also hauling down four rebounds and dishing out two assists as the Saints stayed top of the standings with an undefeated 3-0 record.
Samuel's superb game enabled Wellington to turn a close 71-65 affair into a one-sided game, 91-65, after an explosion of 20 unanswered points.
Dion Prewster also did his own damage with 22 points, seven boards, and six assists, Kerwin Roach had 16 points, six assists, three rebounds, and two steals, and Tohi Smith-Milner got 14 points, three steals, and two boards.
Fil-Kiwi forward Ken Tuffin was once again a spark off the bench for the Saints, scoring all of his nine points from deep on 3-of-5 shooting, on top of two boards and two assists. He was also a game-best plus-32 in his 23 minutes on the floor.
Wellington shot 16-of-32 from deep to comfortably lead by 32 at the final buzzer.
The Saints take an eight-day breather before continuing this five-game homestand against winless Nelson Giants (0-1) next Saturday.
Brayden Inger and Alonzo Burton paced Southland with 12 points apiece in its first loss in three outings. Dominique Kelman-Poto added 11 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Courtney Belger had 10 points in the defeat.
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