Basketball: Gutsy effort by Breakers

There are several reasons the Breakers should be proud of their late win over the Townsville Crocodiles.

They are starting to look and play like a team; they came from behind to close out the 116-112 win and it was commitment to winning by their two American imports, Rich Melzer and Brian Green, that got them home.

The continued improvement from their bench men suggests they will be more formidable next season.

It was a block from Melzer with just over a minute to go that stopped Townsville taking an unassailable lead, and turnovers in possession allowed Green to snap two late three-pointers to turn a 107-102 deficit into a slender lead. The last two minutes took more than 10 to play as both teams called time-outs and Townsville desperately tried to get their hands on the ball with a series of deliberate fouls.

The home team's composure got them home in front of 1700 fans at Trusts Stadium. The victory leaves them second-last on the table but just one win away from overtaking the Crocodiles for ninth place.

Next up are the Hunter Pirates in Newcastle on Friday and then the Sydney Kings, two away games that provide a real test of whether Saturday night's win was a sign they have reached a turning point in the franchise's three-season history or whether it was a flash-in-the-pan.

Coach Andrej Lemanis is convinced they are on the up, based on consistency in performance and continued improvement since December.

"Part of it is belief, part of it is knowing how to win, part of it is getting used to everyone and what they can do," he said. Since December, they had focused on making one extra pass in offence, on finding a player more open to shoot. "Timing and patience we've labelled it in training."

On Saturday night the timing between Paul Henare and Green and between the two Americans and big Ben Pepper was a stand-out.

There were some great stats, Green's 34 points and Melzer 32 with a 69 per cent accuracy plus 11 rebounds, Pepper with 18 points and 17 rebounds. The Breakers' shooting percentages improved across the board and they out-rebounded the Crocs 51 to 38.

In a game in which there was little defence from either side in the first two periods, then a huge emphasis on defence in the last, Lemanis and his team stayed cool while his old boss, Ian Stacker, blew his.

Afterwards, Stacker told Lemanis "well done". Lemanis didn't think his years as assistant to the volatile Stacker had taught him to approach things differently. "You need to play your own character, you need to be yourself. He's intense, I'm intense too but in a different way."

Pleasing for Lemanis were the 14 deflections the Breakers put on the Crocs in period three. "It's an indicator of how much pressure you're putting on the ball - our goal is 10."

The Breakers took an early lead on Saturday night but the score was never further apart than their five-point advantage at 33-29 after the first quarter. They led for most of the second but only narrowly.

Townsville started to look unlikely winners late in the fourth period, until Melzer earned the decisive turnover. It was a gutsy win of which they should be proud.