KEY POINTS:
The Breakers will have two weeks to dwell on an ugly defeat after turning in a horribly sub-par effort against the Townsville Crocodiles on the North Shore last night.
Bested in every department, the Breakers had no answer to the superior intensity and accuracy of the Crocs.
The
league leaders going into the match, the Breakers' much-vaunted offence completely misfired, while their defence struggled to assert anything remotely resembling pressure on the visitors.
The stats were telling as the Crocs made the most of the open looks they were gifted to pound the Breakers from the three-point line, connecting with 13 of 27 attempts.
By contrast the Breakers, usually the most potent shooting team in the league, landed just five of 23.
They were little better from close range, shooting an anaemic 34 per cent of total field goals for the match.
After such a listless and heavy-legged display, the Breakers may well profit from the two-week break before their next match, at home against Sydney Spirit. But it should also be an uneasy fortnight for them as they ponder what led to such a lifeless display.
Often slow starters, the Breakers were no different last night, conceding 33 points in the first quarter to trail by 11 at the first break.
The Crocs, by contrast, started superbly, shooting 62 per cent for the quarter including four of six from beyond the arc.
Oscar Forman provided what little initial offensive spark the Breakers had with 13 early points, including two three-pointers to start the second quarter.
Forman's burst did little to eat into the Crocs' lead, however, with the visitors continuing to find the mark from distance.
The Crocs led by up to 16 before a burst of scoring from Penney and back-to-back steals by Dillon Boucher helped cut that margin in half two minutes before the interval.
A Daniel Egan basket right on the buzzer gave the Crocs a 55-45 lead at the break.
Having turned in their worst first half of the season, the Breakers needed a better start to the second.
They didn't get it - their first play ending with Penney fumbling the ball out of bounds despite being under little pressure.
Penney, who had been struggling to find his stroke from distance, began instead to penetrate on the dribble and the approach brought six straight points from the free-throw line as the Crocs were forced to foul to stop him. But his 26 points were rather a lone hand as the Crocs enjoyed the freedom of the North Shore at the opposite end, pouring in the shots under little pressure to maintain a double digit lead.
The Breakers weren't helped by Phill Jones' off night, the former Tall Blacks marksman missing with his first seven shots. Jones may have been ice cold but he was hardly alone on that score, with Boucher missing two free throws and a simple lay-up as the Breakers showed little sign of being able to resurrect what was clearly shaping as a very bad night.
Back-to-back threes from Brad Williamson stretched the lead to 16 and by three-quarter time the margin was 21, with the visitors comprehensively taking the third quarter 29-18.
An 8-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter gave the Breakers the slenderest glimmer of hope but the Crocs, who had six players in double figures, quickly regained control to coast to a comfortable victory.
