NWU-Pukke kept their semifinal hopes alive with a 69-37 win over a plucky UCT side in Potchefstroom on Monday.
The Capetonians made life difficult for the home side in the first quarter and they even had a good lead before Pukke increased the tempo after half-time to pick up a valuable bonus-point win
UCT opened the scoring in the first quarter but could not keep the ruthless Pukke attack at bay with the home team leading 4-3 before a powerplay was called for. It was the Cape side who took full advantage of the powerplay as they raced to a 9-4 lead midway in the quarter.
Pukke then went into overdrive and overtook the Cape side to lead 16-12 before the end of the first quarter.
The home side took the game by the scruff of the neck in the first minutes of the second quarter and raced to a 22-12 lead with UCT having no answers in defence.
UCT did just enough to stay in touch with their hosts and by the time the half-time whistle was blown they were just six points behind with the score reading 31-25 in Pukke’s favour.
Both teams continued to score points regularly in the opening minutes of the third quarter and just before the game’s second powerplay was called for it was Pukke leading 37-27. This time it was the home side who took advantage of the two points rule to open up a 16-point lead.
With the third quarter coming to an end Pukke already had a sizable lead with the score reading 52-31.
Pukke continued where they left off in third and increased their lead in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. In that period UCT could only score one goal to Pukke’s three.
Pukke racked up the points in the closing stages to put 32 points between themselves and UCT in a game, but they did not have it their own way as UCT put up a good fight before running out of steam.
FNB Player of the Match: Sigrid Bester
