Basketball: Breakers humbled in Cairns

Mika Vukona led the Breakers with 18 points. Photo / Getty

Taipans 83
Breakers 59

What do you get when you score a season-low 59 points and miss all 17 of your attempts from beyond the arc?

For the Breakers, the answer was their worst performance of the Australian NBL campaign, crumbling to an embarrassing defeat in Cairns tonight.

The Breakers' key men were quiet, they suffered a heavy defeat in the rebounding battle and, pivotally, they just couldn't put the ball in the basket, spending the entire encounter completely bereft of offensive rhythm.

Mika Vukona was the only Breaker to enjoy any output on offence, coming away with a game-high 18 points, while none of his teammates was able to join him in double figures.

Cedric Jackson endured an up-and-down night, filling up his stat sheet in every category, good and bad. The American finished with eight points, six rebounds and five steals but he was a liability rather than a leader on the offensive end, turning over the ball five times.

Corey Webster had perhaps his worst performance of an impressive season, going one-of-13 from the floor to contribute just four points. Tom Abercrombie was similarly ineffective in recording six, while Ekene Ibekwe fouled out with just two points and two rebounds to his name.

"You can live with one or two guys having off nights," said assistant coach Paul Henare, "but when across the board you don't have too much contribution from anyone other than Mika, it's a little bit disappointing."

And that disappointment could have larger ramifications. The Taipans now lead the season series 2-1 and tonight's comprehensive victory leaves the Breakers with a real challenge to overhaul the points differential.

Which, judging by the first half of the season, could be important, with the Breakers (12-5) barely leading Cairns (11-5) on the standings. Perth (10-5) are also right in the mix and the trio of teams have enough separation to suggest they will fight it out for the minor premiership.

The Breakers will need to quickly forget about this ugly night if they hope to emerge triumphant from that fight but, as Henare stressed, there was little danger of the Kiwi club dwelling on the defeat.

"Our team ethos is we don't get too high after a win and we don't get too low after a loss," he said. "It's one game of a 28-game season and these things happen. You don't want them to happen, you don't expect them to happen but, at the end of the day, sometimes shit does happen."

It happened early and often tonight, with the Breakers quickly falling into a hole after a minute's silence to mark the eight children stabbed to death at a nearby suburban residence. The Breakers went to the first break behind by six and things got worse in the second quarter, with the deficit remaining in the double digit range until the fourth.

That never looked like changing but the nature of the Breakers' surrender was surprising, managing just seven points to be blown out in ignominious fashion.

Taipans 83 (Gliddon 18, Wilbekin 13, Burston 12)
Breakers 59 (Vukona 18, Jackson 8, Wesley 8)
HT: 44-33