Shane Heal's first game as an NBL head coach ended in victory as Sydney Kings held off the visiting Townsville Crocodiles 71-69.
Barking orders, twitching with every play and encouraging his side throughout, Heal's presence had the desired effect.
Inspired by Ben Madgen, Julian Khazzouh and Luke Martin (all 15 points), the Kings recovered from a lacklustre first half to run over the Crocs in the third term.
After racing 13 points in front after at the last break the home side had to withstand a fierce Crocs comeback to record its slender two-point win.
Youngster Todd Blanchfield was Townsville's best with 15 points and five rebounds, while Jacob Holmes (14 points, nine rebounds) and Luke Schenscher (11 points, seven rebounds) provided support.
Early on it looked like it was going to be a homecoming to forget for former champion player Heal.
In a poor first quarter, where the Kings shot just 25 per cent from the field, stage fright seemed to have swept through the team.
But when the visitors ran out to an early eight-point lead Heal implemented a full-court press that stemmed the flow and threw the Crocs off their game.
Following a rugged second term that knotted scores at 32-32 at half-time the Kings emerged from the sheds a new team, a 17-3 run setting up a 60-47 lead after 30 minutes.
When Anatoly Bose stole the ball off Peter Crawford on the halfway line and drove for a lay-up it epitomised the Kings' newfound belief.
The Crocs were at sea and the Kings were firmly in control.
But, with victory apparently assured for the Kings, the Crocs closed within four points with 66 seconds on the clock and threatened to pull off a miraculous comeback.
Despite a nervy final minute, the Kings held on for a well-deserved victory as Khazzouh controlled the boards.
"It wasn't pretty offensively today, but the boys showed a lot of pride to hold on," Heal said.
"These are the types of games that scare the hell out of me, I knew Shane was going to give the team a newfound energy, but we didn't match it," Crocs coach Paul Woolpert said.
"We made too many mistakes and you just can't do that."
Martin, making his 250th appearance in the NBL, praised Heal for the performance.
"Having a player of Shane's stature at the club instantly demands respect from the players," he said.
"He has talked to us about accountability and the boys showed a lot of that tonight."
Meanwhile, Cairns (14-10) climbed above Townsville into the top four with a 83-78 away win over second-placed over Perth (16-8).
The Taipans trailed by 11 at half-time, but scored the first 15 points of the third quarter and led by six at the last change.
Perth regained the lead in the last term, but a 7-0 run secured victory for Cairns.
Alex Loughton notched 20 for the visitors and Lisch 21 for Perth.
Townsville slumped to fifth as Gold Coast (13-9) consolidated third place with a 85-72 home win over last-placed Wollongong (6-17).
The Blaze scored the last six points of the first half to lead 46-40 and never relinquished their advantage despite hitting just one out of 10 three-point attempts.
Worthington top-scored for the Blaze with 17.
AAP
Tags: sport, basketball, nbl, sydney-2000 First posted February 26, 2012 19:40:13
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