Basketball: Breakers suffer heart-break in Sydney

Kirk Penney of the Breakers passes during the round 13 NBL match against Sydney. Photo / Getty

Kings 85 Breakers 80

It was difficult to tell what would have hurt more as the Breakers slumped to defeat in Sydney tonight.

Losing yet another player to injury must have been painful, as point guard David Stockton limped off after only two minutes. And their unseemly efforts from the free throw line would have caused a few headaches, making just 16 of their 31 attempts.

Then there was the fact they lost a game they had led for virtually the entire fourth quarter, throwing away the chance to head into the New Year inside the playoff places.

It was certainly a frustrating evening for coach Paul Henare and co. On one hand, given their ever-growing casualty ward, they had no business beating the Kings. On the other, it was less an admirable loss and more a victory squandered.

Coming off a Christmas break and sitting fifth, the Breakers (8-10) had an unlikely opportunity to leapfrog Sydney (11-10) and into the top four of the Australian NBL.

While the Kiwi club had been dealt double-digit defeats in each of their last four trips across the Tasman, Sydney had lost their last four at home. But the signs were ominous early for the Breakers, as the hosts took a quick 10-point lead and Stockton became the latest to be bitten by the injury bug infecting the club.

The Breakers were already playing without Corey Webster and Tom Abercrombie - just the second time in 143 games both men had been missing from the gameday squad - and Stockton himself was an replacement for the stricken Ben Woodside.

But the American failed to return after appearing to roll his ankle in a collision and, when combined with early foul trouble for Rob Loe, the rotations available to Henare were severely restricted for much of the encounter.

Facing their first game since Abercrombie broke his hand, Henare handed 21-year-old Finn Delany a maiden start, being rewarded with 11 points and seven rebounds in 21 energetic minutes, while new import Paul Carter checked in for his first stint midway through the first.

Carter introduced himself with a three-pointer that trimmed the deficit to three heading into the second and, with the second unit required to play big minutes, both the new forward and veteran Alex Pledger provided a nice boost from the bench.

But Sydney still took a four-point lead into halftime, helped significantly by their opponents' woeful nine-of-19 mark from the free-throw line. The Breakers came into the contest last in the league with a 66 per cent success rate and Akil Mitchell - the second-worst foul shooter in the competition - solidified that standing by going 0-5 in the half.

But, as poor as they were from the charity stripe, Kirk Penney was much more effective from range, draining a triple in the third that gave the Breakers their first lead since the opening moments, grabbing 12 of his 20 points in the period.

Penney's heroics put the Breakers in front by two heading into the fourth and Carter looked to be increasing in confidence as the game wore on, making some key plays at both ends to finish his first outing with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

But their lack of options eventually caught up to the Breakers, as first Shea Ili fouled out after a career-high 29 minutes from the bench before Penney followed suit.

Fittingly enough, given their opponents' struggles, it was free throws that put Sydney in front in the final minute, allowed to maintain their slight edge as Carter was caught travelling with a chance to level it at the death.

Kings 85 (J. Cadee 22, G. Whittington 17, B. Newley 16)
Breakers 80 (K. Penney 20, P. Carter 14, F. Delany 11)
Halftime: 46-42