THE Newcastle Hunters opened their Waratah Australian Basketball League campaign with a 72-56 road victory over Canberra Nationals at the Australian Institute of Sport on Saturday night.
An explosive third quarter, in which Newcastle outscored the Nationals 27-10, and a double-double by American excitement machine Nick Freer (29 points, 14 rebounds), proved the difference, but Hunters coach Darren Nicholls said there was room for improvement across the board.
"I think we only played well for one quarter - we held them to 10 points in the third - but overall it was a good hit-out and a very good win for us," Nicholls said.
"It was a game we needed to find out where we were at, and it was a reward for all our hard work in the pre-season, but there's still massive room for improvement."
Despite a game-high 28 points by Katie Ebzery, the Hunters women never recovered from a slow start in their 79-61 loss to Canberra.
The Hunters men and women travel to Sutherland on Saturday.
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