Basketball: Green shows how in Breakers' back-to-back win

The Breakers' new import Brian Green scored 34 points last night. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

The Breakers proved last week's victory was no fluke when they beat the Cairns Taipans at the North Shore Events Centre last night.

The win came from outstanding defence work and a cool Brian Green who brought the house down with a game high 34 points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Breakers led after the first quarter 28-23, following some solid defence and great work by Ben Pepper under the net and Aaron Olson from the three point line.

Chris Burgess lifted the Cairns' game in the second quarter, claiming six points in quick succession and a three-pointer from Martin Cattalini brought the score to 33-all.

Breakers captain Paul Henare hammered hard through the Taipans' defence and Brian Green justified his retention in the team with nine points in the half. Olsen and Rich Melzer kept the momentum up for the Breakers and it was only two three-pointers from Anthony Stewart that had Cairns ahead 53-51 at the break.

Nine unanswered points suddenly had the Breakers out to a 65-57 lead, prompting a time out by the Taipans.

Green was dynamic from the outside and a bucket from a steal kept the Breakers clear of their third-quarter blues of past games, leading 79-75 going into the final 12 minutes.

Green remained cool and crisp with his shooting, with one-handed salutes guiding in his three-pointers. It was a 10-point game in the Breakers' favour with six minutes remaining.

The Breakers kept up their relentless pressure forcing Cairns into a number of errors plus winding the shot clock down and forcing turn overs.

Cairns resorted to the outside, with Darnell Mee providing accuracy, but all a little too late. Melzer carried the day for the Breakers in the dying moments, coming away with 27 points for the game.

Coach Andrej Lemanis subbed Green off with 34 seconds left, allowing the modest crowd to give him a standing ovation.

Lemanis said that the team had made a conscious effort to concentrate on the positives from last week's win.

"We focused on defence, eliminated the negatives and built up our self-esteem. The winning confidence started at practice and carried on into the game."


NZ Breakers: 118 (B. Green 34, R. Melzer 27, A. Olsen 24, B. Pepper 16)
Cairns Taipans: 103 (D. Mee 26, M. Cattalini 18, C. Burgess 18, G. Boodnikoff 15)
Halftime: 51-53.