Trailing by five points at the end of the third quarter and outplayed for much of the first half, the Kings locked down in the final 10 minutes to record a victory that gets their run to the playoffs back on track.
Led by import forward Jarell Martin, who scored nine of his game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, the purple and gold fought with everything they had to turn back New Zealand and get a split of their Round 19 road double after their loss to the Breakers on Thursday night in Auckland.
Sydney shot just 2 of 15 from three-point range and struggled offensively for much of the night, making their win even more impressive given they had to get it done through grit and determination at the defensive end of the floor.
Martin shot 12 of 21 from the field for his 29 points and added nine rebounds, Casper Ware was outstanding on defence and finished with 15 points on the night, while Hunter was excellent once again in contributing 14 points and seven rebounds.
Notable mentions must also go to Craig Moller and Shaun Bruce. Moller’s work throughout the evening mopping up loose balls and rebounds (in which he finished with eight) was sensational.
Bruce was also instrumental to the Kings solid defence, finishing with seven rebounds of his own, including shutting down Corey Webster on the Breakers final offensive possession to ultimately secure the Kings win.
