It was a sea of orange as the home crowd turned out to witness a full-on Shark attack. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation and excitement, which could be felt even before entering the “Shark Tank”.
Following a gruelling road trip that took the Sharks from 10 wins in a row to an impressive 13, could they out-play the Wellington Saints to make it 14?
Of course they could! The Sharks took it out with a final score of 89-81.
Both teams played with dogged determination. It was raining three-pointers all night from both sides. The stand-out player though had to be Kevin Braswell, who was on fire throughout the game, proving that if nothing else there might be no greater motivation than having your Mum in the crowd.
The win was only fitting really as this match was also the final game on home soil for retiring player Braswell and departing coach Paul Henare, who were both bid farewell in style after the game.
As we wish the boys all the best in their up-coming semi-finals (and hopefully also the finals), here are a few images from throughout the match and the post-match farewells:
