Sydney 103 Breakers 94 (OT)
KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Breakers returned to Auckland yesterday cursing the one that got away, leaving them teetering on the edge of the Australian National Basketball League's top-eight.
Table-toppers the Sydney Kings won the match 103-94 in overtime after the Breakers had their chance to snatch it at 87-87 and the final possession of normal time.
"It's really difficult to take a loss like that, especially when you know we had the opportunity to win and it didn't get taken away from us - we lost it," said senior Breaker Phill Jones.
The prospect of a first win against the Kings since January 2006 loomed before a 4000-strong crowd at the Sydney Entertainment Centre as the Breakers sought the matchwinner.
With 8s left, one of the Breakers' standouts, Tony Ronaldson, tried to repeat his earlier effort which tied the scores but it bounced agonisingly around the hoop and failed to drop.
That was the last look the visitors got as the Kings, inspired by veteran captain Jason Smith, powered clear in the extra five minutes to rumble to their 17th win from 19 matches.
A mighty Breakers defensive effort, which saw them lead 47-38 at halftime, was punctuated by a rash of fouls which kept the Kings in the game.
The Kings had a massive 51 visits to the freethrow line, of which they converted 37. The Breakers shot 10 from just 17 freethrow attempts.
"We gave them too many free throws, 51 times is way too many," Jones said.
"I thought we played great defence but at the worst possible moment we made a foul with a few seconds on the clock and it cost us in the end."
Coach Andrej Lemanis agreed they should have finished the job against a team they'd beaten only twice from 13 previous attempts.
"We've got a lot of experience and I think that's the first close game we've lost this year. That's been one of our strengths, our ability to execute down the stretch," Lemanis said.
"It does feel like one we should have got, but that's what happens during a season."
Ronaldson led the way with 20 points, with Kirk Penney scoring 18 and Jones 16.
Oscar Forman (14 points) and Mika Vukona (11) also made big defensive contributions while recently arrived import Derrick Alston had his best game with 13 rebounds.
Lemanis was happy the Breakers had finally dealt with the loss of injured imports Rick Rickert and Wayne Turner, and the arrival of Alston and guard Orien Greene.
"We're good when we play well as a team. The focus is starting to come back, sacrificing for the good of the team. We're starting to find our rhythm."
And it wasn't a mortal blow for the Breakers' top-eight playoff hopes.
Sixth going into the weekend, they dropped one spot on the ladder but remain level with fifth-placed Perth and sixth-placed Cairns on a winning percentage of 53.
The next few weeks are crucial to the Breakers' playoff chances.
- NZPA
