Northland Suns

Northland Suns
LeagueNational Basketball League
Founded1995
Folded1998
HistoryNorthland Suns
1995–1998
LocationWhangārei, Northland,
New Zealand
Team coloursOrange & navy blue
Championships0

The Northland Suns were a New Zealand basketball team based in Whangārei. The Suns competed in the National Basketball League (NBL).

Team history

The Northland Suns started in the second-tiered Conference Basketball League (CBL). Teams representing Whangārei and the Northland Region played in the CBL throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with Cable Price Whangarei finishing second in the Northern Conference in 1986, and Abbey Mazda Northland finishing second in 1987. In 1991, Mobil Marters Northland won the CBL championship. Mobil Marters went on to finish runners-up in 1992, before winning their second CBL championship in 1994.[1]

Following the 1994 championship, Northland were promoted to the National Basketball League (NBL) for the 1995 season.[2] The Suns spent four seasons in the NBL, finishing 13th in 1995, 11th in 1996, 8th in 1997, and 11th in 1998.[2] Their 1998 campaign saw them become the first team in NBL history to go an entire season without a win.[3] They subsequently withdrew from the NBL and ceased operations following the 1998 season.[4]

The Northland Suns brand returned in 2010, with a team playing three years in the Senior Intercity Competition, a national second division competition colloquially known as the Conference Basketball League.[4][5][6][7]

References

  1. ^ "2010 Conference Basketball League" (PDF). Basketball.org.nz. pp. 4–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "2005 League Handbook" (PDF). Basketball.org.nz. pp. 32–36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2006.
  3. ^ "Basketball: Nuggets closing on unwanted record". odt.co.nz. 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. ...the embattled franchise looks a good bet to join the 2009 Taranaki Mountain Airs and the 1998 Northland Suns as the only National Basketball League teams to go the entire season without a win.
  4. ^ a b "Suns rise again in quest to join NBL". nzherald.co.nz. 20 April 2010. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Northland Suns get new coach Ross Cronshaw". nzherald.co.nz. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019.
  6. ^ Curran, Michelle (2 September 2011). "Suns charged for a new season". The Northern Advocate. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  7. ^ "Northland Suns to participate in Senior Provisional Intercity Competition Zone 1 2012". sunsbasketball.co.nz. 12 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 February 2013.