Derone Raukawa, who scored 22 points for the Hawks on Saturday night in Auckland. But it wasn’t enough, and the Hawks were beaten 106-75 by Auckland Tuatara. Photo / Ian Cooper
The Taylor Hawks have suffered one of their bigger defeats in the national basketball league in a 106-75 loss to the Auckland Tuatara in Auckland.
The 31-point demise on Saturday night was the Hawks’ fifth loss in six games since winning the opening two matches at Easter, and two days after a whiff of resurrection in a win over Taranaki Airs in New Plymouth.
With three-pointers from Jordan Hunt and Derone Raukawa in the opening five minutes of an up-and-down opening quarter, the Hawks went to the end of the first quarter up 21-20.
But they found it wasn’t happening in the next two quarters, scoring just 10 points in the 10 minutes to halftime, when the Tuatara led 48-13, and 13 in the 10 minutes after halftime, facing the run home with a 29-point deficit at 73-44 at the last break.
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Raukawa topped the scoresheet for the Hawks with 22 points, including three-from-five from outside the keyhole, but the Tuatara had three with more than 20 each, headed by Jarrad Weeks, with 25.
The result effectively pushed the Hawks outside the top six, with five losses in eight games, heading to the next match in front of the home crowd against Nelson Giants at Pettigrew Green Arena next Sunday.