KEY POINTS:
Breakers 118 Melbourne 97
The New Zealand Breakers pulled off a major upset in Auckland last night, humbling the team who coach Andrej Lemanis described as the best in the Australian National Basketball League.
The Breakers downed the high-flying Melbourne Tigers 118-97 at the North Shore Events Centre, overcoming their third-quarter blues in doing so.
Melbourne had gone into the match at the top of the table, while the Breakers were back in 11th spot.
But the home side, showing plenty of commitment at both ends of the court, ran out surprisingly comfortable winners.
Brian Wethers produced a game-high 31 points for the Breakers, followed closely by Carlos Powell, who collected 28 points as well as eight rebounds.
With the Breakers up 61-47 at halftime, one note of concern for the home fans was whether their side could maintain their momentum into the start of the second half.
In six of their previous seven matches, they had lost the third quarter, a trend they were keen to end.
There were a few wobbles as the Tigers closed to within three points, but a key play turned out to be a Powell block that led to a three-pointer at the other end from Oscar Forman.
The Breakers ending up tying the quarter 14-14.
The Tigers looked slick at the start of the contest, but the Breakers then began to edge ahead, with Powell bringing the crowd alive with a pair of slam dunks and his general athleticism.
He said a desire to beat the reigning ANBL champions was one reason for the Breakers' intensity on court.
He downplayed his own contribution, saying victory had been based on a team performance.
The Breakers won't have much time to savour the victory. They head to Adelaide today for a match against the 36ers tomorrow night.
- NZPA
