Basketball: New Zealand Breakers fall to Illawarra Hawks in double overtime thriller

Yanni Wetzell led all scorers with 25 points in the Breakers' loss to the Hawks. Photo / Getty Images

NZ Breakers 96
Illawarra Hawks 97

The New Zealand Breakers are in a rut.

For the second game in a row, the New Zealand side coughed up a double-digit lead and went on to lose a game, this time falling to the unbeaten Illawarra Hawks 97-96 in a double overtime thriller and dropping their fourth-straight game to start the campaign.

Again, there were encouraging signs for the Breakers. Yanni Wetzell was a monster on the inside with 25 points and 16 rebounds, while young Frenchman Hugo Besson's scoring ability remains a surprisingly vital part of this team's hopes in the early stages of the season.

In stretches, they look like they could be challenging in the playoffs later in the season. But if they're going to do so, they will need to learn how to protect a lead.

It all started so well for the Breakers. On the back of 13 points from Wetzell, the side got the game underway in ideal fashion to take a 27-14 lead after the opening quarter. At that point, 60 per cent of their shots were falling as they worked for high percentage opportunities.

However, settling for jump shots early in the second quarter and missing their first five attempts, the Breakers saw that 13-point gap become smaller and smaller as the Hawks started to find their stroke from the floor.

Illawarra quickly erased the deficit as they started the period on a 17-2 run, before ultimately outscoring the Breakers 25-14 in the quarter.

The Breakers were able to maintain the lead as they got into the paint with success from Finn Delany, Thomas Abercrombie and Robe Loe, but their lead was trimmed to just two points at half time.

From the start of the third quarter, things started to get a bit ugly with neither side shooting particularly well. However, the Hawks found their way into the lead late in the period, only to see Besson catch fire and score eight-straight for the Breakers and maintain a lead at the break.

It was a similar story in the fourth quarter as the sides fought to gain some sort of ascendancy, however the Breakers were guilty of trying to win the game through isolation offence rather than moving the ball around. When they did try to move the ball, it was often late in the shot clock and led to optimistic passes that were easily picked off.

After falling behind down the home stretch, the Breakers looked on track for their first win of the season when Wetzell put them ahead with about 30 seconds to play. However, Hawks guard Tyler Harvey – who has made just one of nine attempts from three-point range – stepped up to land his second of the night, with a William McDowell White basket saving the game for the Breakers and forcing overtime.

After one overtime period wasn't enough to separate the two, the second came down to the final minute. Again, it was Harvey who put the Hawks in front, with his floating jump shot cancelling out a dramatic deep three pointer from Besson and leading the Hawks home with the win.

The loss sees the Breakers fall to 0-4 to start the campaign, and they could be at risk of having more players spend time in the casualty ward as Tom Abercrombie (ankle) and William McDowell-White (leg) were forced out of the play late.

NZ Breakers 96 (Yanni Wetzell 25 points 16 rebounds, Hugo Besson 20 points)

Illawarra Hawks 97 (Justinian Jessup 21 points, Duop Reath 19 points 12 rebounds)

1Q: 27-14. HT: 41-39. 3Q: 60-57. 4Q: 77-77. OT1: 84-84.