Breakers 120
Blaze 108
KEY POINTS:
The Breakers edged their way to a scrappy victory over the Gold Coast Blaze on the North Shore last night but, with a tough road schedule beckoning, they failed to deliver the sort of confidence-inspiring performance they would have hoped for.
The Blaze - bottom of the table and now winless in six matches - went into the match short-handed after import Jauquin Hawkins pulled out prior to tip off. But the visitors belied their underdog status, staying in the match until the death despite the Breakers' repeated attempts to pull clear.
That the Breakers couldn't kill off their opponents was down to another shoddy defensive effort and an inability to land the decisive shot.
Time and again the Breakers edged to a six or seven point lead but the likes of Kirk Penney, Oscar Forman and Tony Ronaldson repeatedly failed to connect with the three-pointer that would have given them a double-digit lead.
Back-to-back threes from Phill Jones and CJ Bruton finally secured the win with 1.02 remaining in the fourth quarter to take the Breakers to 4-1 but they will need to be much better to get anything out of next Wednesday's trip to Cairns. That game begins a stretch of six games out of the next eight across the Tasman that will provide a truer reflection of where this Breakers team truly sits in the league.
With their outside shooting game failing them, the Breakers were forced to rely on centre Rick Rickert's low post game and Penney's penetration on the dribble. They eased to a four-point lead at quarter time and stretched it to as much as seven mid-way through the second quarter.
The Blaze weren't exactly in sizzling form but they hung in well enough and a James Harvey three on the stroke of halftime meant they trailed by just two at the break after taking the second quarter 32-20.
The Breakers had a better time of it with the officials than in last week's defeat by the Taipans but Dillon Boucher and Oscar Forman both still found themselves in early foul trouble.
The Blaze had foul problems of their own, with Casey Frank, Ben Melmouth and Pero Cameron skating on thin ice shortly into the second half.
The visitors hit the front briefly with a long Shane Heal three but Bruton hit straight back to maintain the Breakers' tentative grip on the contest.
A five-point play from Phill Jones - a three pointer and two free throws for a foul after the shot - briefly kicked them six clear but the Blaze strung together another run to tie it and the Breakers needed a buzzer-beating Paul Henare shot from mid court to maintain a slender four-point advantage heading into the final quarter.
NZ Breakers 120 (Kirk Penney 23, Rick Rickert 22, Phill Jones 21, CJ Bruton 20)
Gold Coast Blaze 108 (Shane Heal 23, Luke Whitehouse 22).
HT: 59-57
