Basketball: Penney on fire at sultry stadium

Breakers' guard Kirk Penney is airborne against the Hawks at the North Shore Events Centre last night. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Breakers 80
Hawks 76

A Kirk Penney fourth-quarter explosion and a dominant rebounding display from Mika Vukona saw the Breakers overcome the tenacious Hawks - and a horribly slippery court - at the North Shore Events Centre last night.

Despite the sultry conditions, neither team was in particularly hot form, but led by 22 points from Penney and an 11-point, 16-rebound double double from Vukona the Breakers did just enough to post their fifth straight win and maintain their stranglehold on the top of the Australian NBL ladder.

For the Hawks an eighth-straight defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow.

Breakers point guard Kevin Braswell lost his footing on the treacherous court three times in the closing minutes but the Hawks failed to take full advantage, with the league's top scorer Gary Ervin missing the crucial shots.

Ervin led the Hawks with 21 points but he couldn't come up big when it mattered, with the Breakers closing out the match from the free throw line thanks to a nerveless four buckets from Gary Wilkinson.

The first half was one for the amateur statistician, with the Hawks somewhat freakishly scoring their first 10 points all from the free-throw line.

As a sign of things to come it was a pretty decent one, with the Breakers finding themselves consistently on the wrong side of the officials.

By halftime the Hawks had shot 15/19 from the line, while the Breakers were just five of seven.

The Hawks didn't manage a single field goal in the first eight minutes but when they broke the drought they did it in style, with Tim Coenraad and Ervin combining to pour in three trebles in the space of a minute.

That erased much of the Breakers' early advantage, with a Wilkinson long two on the buzzer sending them to the first break leading 23-19.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern, with the Breakers twice edging their lead out to eight points only to be pulled back by the plucky Hawks.

An 8-2 Hawks run tied the scores late in the quarter but Braswell chipped in with a late basket to close the half, giving the Breakers a three-point lead.

Vukuna kicked off the second half with his fifth offensive rebound and a put-back two points from a missed Tom Abercrombie shot as the familiar pattern of the match continued.

Penney had missed his first four attempts from long range but he finally found his mark mid-way through the period.

Ervin immediately fired back for the Hawks and then Bruton joined the exchange as both sides heated up.

Bruton perhaps became a bit too hot under the collar, coping a technical for his complaint over the lack of a foul call in the build-up to his shot.

Ervin and Penney traded clutch baskets right down to the final minute. But in the end it was Ervin who faltered, the classy American missing two lay-ups as the Breakers clung on for victory.

Breakers 80 (Kirk Penney 22, Gary Wilkinson 13, Mika Vukona 11).

Wollongong Hawks 76 (Gary Ervin 21, Tim Coenraad 15, Larry Davidson 13, Rhys Martin 11). HT: 46-43.