Wellington, March 20 NZPA - National Basketball League minnows Southland and Taranaki secured momentous wins to round out the third round of matches last night.

Playing their inaugural season, the Southland Sharks franchise secured their first ever win, beating the Hawke's Bay Hawks 85-79 in Taradale while, after 18 successive losses, the Taranaki Mountain Airs beat the Christchurch Cougars 84-62 in New Plymouth.

Rene Rougeau top-scored for Southland with 20 points while Luke Martin was efficient in scoring 15 and dishing off six assists in his first match for the Sharks.

For Taranaki, import Jack Leasure scored 30 points while Demarshay Johnson had 17 points and nine rebounds.

In other matches, the Harbour Heat maintained their unbeaten record and climbed to second place behind Waikato thrashing the Wellington Saints 115-95 on the North Shore.

Four Heat players scored more than 20 points -- Corey Webster 25, Rick Rickert 22, Kavossy Franklin 22, Beny Anthony 22 -- while Rickert was a dominant figure with 22 rebounds.

For the Saints, Darryl Hudson top scored with 19, while Leon Henry, Nick Horvath and Erron Maxey all had 16.

In Nelson the home side cruised to a 92-60 win over the last-placed Otago Nuggets, winning every quarter while Michael Harrison top-scored with 23 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Antoine Tisby top-scored for Otago with 28 and Tyler Amaya had 16 but the rest of the team combined for a measly 16 points.

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