Basketball: Breakers engineer epic comeback

Gary Wilkinson of the Breakers drives past Phil Jones of the Taipans. Photo / Getty Images

Just when the New Zealand Breakers appeared fallible while undertaking the Australian National Basketball League's toughest road trip they underscored their title credentials by engineering a stunning 77-74 victory in Cairns tonight.

Facing a 20-point deficit at the main break inside the cacophony of the Cairns Convention Centre, they methodically worked their way in front with six minutes remaining before holding their nerve down the stretch.

Kirk Penney produced the key basket - a three-pointer - with 44 seconds to play which put the Breakers up 76-74; CJ Bruton then nailed a free throw to end the second-placed Taipans unbeaten sequence on home court at 10 games.

The Breakers inflicted a potentially demoralising blow on their closest challengers, particularly in the manner they recovered from an insipid beginning start to outscore the Taipans 51-28 in the final two terms.

While Penney supplied the decisive basket and helped initiate the recovery with another long range bomb early in the third period, Bruton, Thomas Abercrombie and Gary Wilkinson were also instrumental in the Breakers achieving a 3-0 series sweep in the competition's northern outpost.

Abercrombie and Wilkinson also nailed three pointers straight after halftime to enable the Breakers to mount a 14-2 run and trim the margin to 13 - the first hint of a momentum shift.

The Taipans advantage had been cut to seven entering the final quarter and although American forward Ron Dorsey sought to stem the tide, the Breakers eventually led for the first time courtesy of a Paul Henare free throw with 6min 16sec remaining.

The contest was on a knife edge from then on until Penney - culpable when the Breakers were so sluggish after the tip off - hit a target that proved elusive when the Dorsey-inspired Taipans were running rampant.

In action for the first time since defeating Adelaide 91-77 at on home court on January 20, the Breakers appeared to have left their competitive streak in Auckland as the produced one of their worst 20-minutes of the campaign.

They soon faced a double-digit deficit thanks to Dorsey's accuracy and their own inept shooting across the board.

As Dorsey, who ended with a game-high 17 points, guided the Taipans to a 16-6 lead part way late in the opening stanza the Breakers had made just three of 11 field goal attempts, none of five from three-point range.

The stats were just as grim at halftime: a 31 per cent shooting percentage, three of 14 from beyond the arc while the Taipans fouling virtually went unpunished as the Breakers converted just three of their nine free throws.

The Taipans appeared in total control at 46-26 before the Breakers belatedly displayed championship qualities to enhance the league's best away record in 2010-11 - an 8-2 record that also equals their greatest number of wins racked up outside North Shore in 2008-09.

In their first two meetings this season, both won comfortably by the Breakers, Penney and Wilkinson wrought most of the damage by averaging 24.5 and 21.0 points respectively.

It was Tall Blacks forward Abercrombie who led a solid team effort tonight with 15 while Bruton (13), Mika Vukona (12) and Wilkinson (11) were other double-figure contributors.

Wilkinson was also a menace on the boards, hauling in 13 including nine at the defensive end as the Taipans stressed under pressure.

The Breakers can now look forward to hosting the free-falling Wollongong Hawks and struggling Melbourne Tigers at home on Thursday and February 11 respectively.

NZ Breakers 77 (Thomas Abercrombie 15, CJ Bruton 13, Mika Vukona 12, Gary Wilkinson 11)
Cairns Taipans 74 (Ron Dorsey 17, Alex Loughton 14, Phill Jones 11)
Halftime: 26-46

- NZPA