Basketball: Breakers go down in nailbiter against Melbourne

A weak finish cost the resurgent New Zealand Breakers basketball team a last minute away win against the Melbourne Tigers, coach Frank Arsego said today.

The Breakers had the chance to tie the game in the last second at the State Netball Centre in Melbourne last night, but Mike Chappell's three-point shot drifted wide, with Tigers forward Stephen Hoare wrapping up the rebound.

The Breakers "just didn't finish off as strongly as we needed too", Arsego said.

"In past close games we've made big plays but tonight we didn't hit the shots we needed down the stretch," he said.

"It wasn't a pretty game -- but the Tigers are a side that can score 110 on regular occasions so I thought our defence was pretty good."

Not even Chappell's game-high 23 points and some superb defence from the Breakers was enough to beat the Tigers, who relied heavily on some final quarter heroics from Darryl McDonald to squeak home.

McDonald scored eight of his 12 points and grabbed three important steals in a cameo which lifted the Tigers home.

The Breakers jumped to an early 10-0 lead before the Tigers wound it back to set up a thriller.

A basket separated the teams at all three changes, before McDonald provided the spark the Tigers needed to punch their lead out to six points early in the last term.

With Chappell sinking basket after basket, the Breakers fought back to take the lead on a pair of his free throws with one minute 10 seconds remaining.

Chappell's two free throws gave the Breakers the lead 75-74 with just over a minute left, but former Michigan State teammate, Dave Thomas, replied quickly to give the Tigers a one-point lead.

Down by one, the Breakers' Andrew Gaze's long range effort hit the rim, but the rebound eluded his teammates.

Tigers' guard Lanard Copeland was fouled and he converted both free throws to give the home side the three-point win.

The Tigers now move to a 9-5 win-loss record, while the Breakers are 4-11 and back up tonight against the Victoria Giants in Melbourne.

"We've been hit mentally with the loss -- now we have to show how we can cope and bounce back," Arsego said in a statement today.

"It's okay when you win to back up well but the true test is how we respond after this loss."

Tigers coach Lindsay Gaze said he was happy his side had managed to get away with its second straight win without centre Mark Bradtke -- still sidelined with a hamstring injury.

- NZPA