Congratulations Nuggets!
The Nuggets Strike GOLD!
Congratulations to the 2020 Sal’s NBL Champs, the Otago Nuggets! In the 56th game of the six-week competition, the Nuggets survived the Manawatu Jets by scraping and clawing their way to a 79-77 victory in front of a near 3,000 capacity crowd.
The Nuggets were strong favourites to take the title, having defeated the Jets in all four previous occasions during the season. This fifth battle made it a clean stretch for Otago but not without a game changing block from Nuggets and Tall Blacks star, Jordan Ngatai, followed by a narrow buzzer beating attempt from the Jets in the dying seconds of the game.
Twenty-two year old big man Jordan Hunt, a Hutt Valley product fresh out of Southern Oregon College, paced the Nuggets with 21 points (9/15 FG), 7 rebounds and a pair of steals to pick up the finals MVP award.
A special mention must go to Tall Blacks and Sal’s NBL legend, Jarrod Kenny. After 18 seasons in the League, it’s taken his 19th to secure a Championship. And what a way to do it! He will now head South to chop off his world-famous mullet in a public ceremony to celebrate their 2020 Sal’s NBL Title!
Congratulations, Nuggets!
