Basketball: Breakers get going to protect home turf

Tim Behrendorff of the Breakers shoots a lay-up during New Zealand's victory over the Hunter Pirates at Waitakere Trusts Stadium yesterday. Phil Walter / Getty Images

Breakers 112 Pirates 94

There was enough rock on offer to keep a classic hits radio station happy for months, and the Breakers responded by getting their season rolling with a stirring victory over the Hunter Pirates.

After four defeats on the road, the Breakers overcame early shooting jitters to demolish the Pirates at Waitakere's Trusts Stadium in a huge injection of confidence for the side under new coach Andrej Lemanis.

For all Lemanis' belief in his squad and their progress during the early rounds of the ANBL championship, an introductory home defeat would have been a blow to morale and ticket sales, which weren't exactly sprightly for yesterday afternoon's match.

A sparse crowd that punched well above its weight, helped by a music system that reached a brain exploding level early in the third quarter, roared the Breakers on as they rose above a 23-26 first-quarter deficit.

Lemanis admitted to relief at the maiden victory but said: "I had faith ... I thought we have showed signs of improvement along the way.

"After the Brisbane game, I said to the guys they had done everything asked of them and had played their hearts out. We just didn't get the result in that game, which sometimes happens, but I said if we continued to play that way, we'd get our fair share of wins.

"Things have been narky at practice over the past couple of weeks ... physical, getting after it, with coaches getting stuck in to the players. It's been a real competitive environment, and when you compete well at practice, you bring that into the game.

"And we've got to protect our home court. Our home court is like a family member. You don't come here and throw us around."

The match brought together the rank outsiders in the 11-team league, although the Pirates had upset Sydney when the Kings were without their brilliant guard C. J. Bruton.

American Odell Bradley, who went into yesterday's match with an ankle injury, was the star of the opening stanza with his magical touches edging the Pirates to an early lead.

But the Breakers relied on 16 offensive rebounds, which gave them a second bite at misdirected cherries, to take a 59-53 lead by halftime.

The Pirates' shooting fell away to a disastrous 34 per cent in the second spell, when they landed three out of 14 three-point attempts.

The Breakers' offence was led by Brant Bailey, who nailed four out of four three-pointers as he snared 32 points, and Aaron Olsen, who landed 22 points.

The standouts included Mika Vukona, whose aggressive defence and intercepts shut down any chance of a Pirates comeback. Vukona grabbed five offensive and five defensive rebounds in 25 minutes on the court. His fiery work included a battle with the biggest Pirate, the 210cm Geordie Cullen, who fouled out of the game.

In early season spirit, Hunter coach Adrian Hurley said it was "good to see your guys getting a win, although not at our expense".

"We just disintegrated. The three-point shooting was the difference.

"You've got to give the credit to the opposition. They were at home and desperate for a win.

"The stats show that home teams win 75 per cent of the games in the league. Once the Breakers got their tails up and their confidence, we weren't able to pull them back.

"We're looking at it philosophically. There are 30 games to go, and all the teams are underdone at this stage. It looked like a team who'd played five games against a team that had played two."