Basketball New Zealand

Warning: file_exists() [function.file-exists]: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/var/www/vhosts/basketball.org.nz/httpdocs/resources/uploads/2007/10/219266-edit.thumbnail.jpg) is not within the allowed path(s): (/home/bbnz/:/tmp:/usr/local/lib/php/) in /home/bbnz/domains/tallblacks.org.nz/public_html/wp-includes/post.php on line 3943

NZ Breakers centre Rick Rickert (Photosport)

Mike Kilpatrick, Sportal
The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers have scored back-to-back home wins, defeating the Adelaide 36ers 116-109 in the Australian Hummer NBL Championship at the North Shore Events Centre.

Most impressive for the home side was import Rick Rickert with 30 points and 13 rebounds and a resurgent Tony Ronaldson, who put a poor opening stanza behind him to score a season-high 19 points

Captain Brett Maher led the way for the 36ers with 27 points and was ably supported by Mike Chappell with 21.

Breakers’ coach Andrej Lemanis was pleased to win the game, despite his team giving up more points than he would like.

“We weren’t solid defensively throughout, but when we needed to down the stretch, I think we did a good job,” Lemanis said.

Another pleasing aspect for Lemanis was the Breakers, once again, refused to panic under pressure.

“Having experienced players there who play with a sense of calmness and a belief in the group is important.”

After an even first stanza the 36ers grabbed control of the game, stretching their lead to 10 points during the second-quarter. However, with half-time approaching the Breakers dragged themselves back into the game to be only two points down at the interval.

The home-side then started to exert some pressure on Adelaide, and took a two-point lead into the final 12 minutes as the three-pointers started to drop.

The 36ers then went on a roll, to take a seven-point lead during the final stanza, before New Zealand finally grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck to win by seven points.

The game started evenly with the 36ers scoring the first points and New Zealand making an immediate improvement from last week by scoring with their first two possessions.

The lead see-sawed through the first quarter as both teams made early errors and struggled to gain control of the match. However a couple of late three-pointers handed the 36ers a quarter-time advantage of four points.

The second period started with Adelaide on a roll, scoring seven points to one and forcing Lemanis to call a time-out.

It seemed to have an immediate effect with Ronaldson – “The Bear” – nailing his first three-pointer of the season having shot 0-from-13 from outside the arc in the first three games.

The game then went through a scrappy period as both teams coughed up possession in the key. Ronaldson then hit his second three-pointer and the 36ers missed four free-shots in a row as the Breakers slowly reduced the deficit to leave the game balanced at half-time – Adelaide with a deserved 54-52 advantage.

New Zealand grabbed the lead back with its first possession in the second-half, Oscar Forman scoring from beyond the arc after going scoreless in the first-half, and then he was almost immediately benched with two quick personals.

However Adelaide, marshalled by the impressive Maher, refused to let the Breakers get too far ahead – four points the biggest advantage to the home team in the third quarter.

New Zealand held the lead for the majority of the third-period, but a huge three-pointer from the 36ers’ Chappell in the closing seconds threatened to give the visitors a three-quarter time lead.

But hometown boy Kirk Penney had the final say of the stanza, nailing a three-pointer from the corner to give the Breakers an 84-82 lead.

Adelaide started the fourth-quarter impressively, rushing to a seven-point lead as New Zealand struggled to retain possession.

But New Zealand showed once again the calmness under pressure that Lemanis has spoken about, the Breakers refusing to panic and hitting back to take a four-point lead into the last three minutes of the game.

With the baskets starting to drop for the home-side Adelaide had to resort to fouling to halt the Breakers charge, but almost faultless shooting from the free-throw line allowed New Zealand to run down the clock and register the win.

Both the 2-2 Breakers and the 2-3 36ers are on the road for their next games – New Zealand travels to Singapore to take on the Slingers on Sunday, while Adelaide takes on the Crocodiles in Townsville on Saturday.

Harvey Norman NZ Breakers 116 (Rick Rickert 30, Kirk Penney 26, Tony Ronaldson 19) Adelaide 36ers 109 (Brett Maher 27, Mike Chappell 21, Axel Dench 16, Adam Ballinger 16)
Box Score – Breakers v 36ers (html 52KB)