RAMS NEWS: 3000 WITNESS RAMS WIN
by Piet Van Hasselt
7 June 2003

A crowd of 3000 Rams Fans witnessed the first game of John "Pope" Whorton's comeback, and the stepping up of Canterbury's Kiwis was key, in a victory over Southern rivals the Nelson Giants, 75-67.  While Canterbury were largely ahead on the scoreboard on the night, they were never in control of the outcome until the final buzzer sounded, with Phill Jones setting the Westpac Centre nets ablaze on his way to 34 points.  Jones' six three-point bombs seemed to keep the Giants in the game, but he lacked the support of team-mates with the usually consistent Judd Flavell only accounting for just three points and Damon Rampton hampered by foul trouble all night.  Whorton simply owned the key accumulating a number of rebounds and blocked shots, and looked trim after returning from a season in Germany.  However, the key to the game was the superb play by the Canterbury Kiwis with Dave Langrell showing the way with 20 points on some athletic play and great jump-shooting.  Myles Sutherland nailed two three-pointers and looked confident on drives to the hoop, while solid play from Forwards Andrew Gardiner and Rewi Manahi were critical.  The win moves the Rams record to two wins from nine games, and can only afford to drop one or perhaps two games if they are to make the playoffs.  Nelson are almost in the same boat, but have one more win, and will hope that Ed Book is back from injury as soon as possible.

Canterbury Rams 75 (John Whorton 24, Dave Langrell 20, Myles Sutherland 13)
Nelson Giants 67 (Phill Jones 34, Darnell McCulloch 18, Damon Rampton 10)
Halftime 45-38
BOXSCORE (INTERIM - problems in the fourth quarter meant not all stats were recorded - stats will be complete by Sunday/Monday).