Perth 106
Breakers 100
For the second week in a row, the Breakers have lost an Australian National Basketball League home match, when they seemed to have it well sewn-up.
The Breakers went down to the Perth Wildcats at the North Shore Events Centre last night after leading the visitors by 10 points at three-quarter time.
The loss came after they went down to the Wollongong Hawks the previous week despite leading by seven points with four minutes to play.
A 29-point game from Kirk Penney appeared to have the Breakers set for victory.
But a stunning 12-point final quarter from Wildcats guard Martin Cattalini saw the visitors take the lead with three minutes to play, and they were not headed in the final two minutes.
The Breakers got off to a fast start but a 12-2 run for the Wildcats gave them a 16-10 lead midway through the first quarter.
Some good shooting from Penney and Thomas Abercrombie helped the Breakers back into the lead, and a three-pointer from John Rillie near the buzzer gave the home team a 27-23 lead at the first break.
Rillie extended the lead to seven shortly afterwards, and they benefited from some solid offensive work from Penney and Rick Rickert.
However they couldn't shake off the well-organised Wildcats' offence for most of the second quarter, Jesse Wagstaff and Stephen Weigh shining in particular, but a Dillon Boucher basket near the end took the Breakers to a 53-45 lead at halftime.
The third quarter threatened to be a romp for the Breakers as they went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead to 17 at one point through outstanding work from Penney and Bruton.
The Wildcats hung in and fought back to be 10 points down at three-quarter time, but the home team still seemed in control.
However, the Wildcats scored the first seven points of the quarter and won the quarter 38-22 as the Breakers' offence and defence, hampered by foul problems for Boucher and Abercrombie, went into freefall.
The win keeps the Wildcats at the top of the ANBL and the Breakers struggling third from bottom. The Gold Coast Blaze moved up into third behind the Wollongong Hawks with an 80-72 win over the Adelaide 36ers.
Perth Wildcats 106 (Martin Cattalini 18, Kevin Lisch 17, Jesse Wagstaff 15)
New Zealand Breakers 100 (Kirk Penney 29, CJ Bruton 19, Rick Rickert 14). Halftime: 45-53.
- NZPA
