Breakers Strangle Snakes
Tagged in: NZ Breakers
Jamie Townsend, Sportal
The New Zealand Breakers have avenged an Australian National Basketball League overtime loss to the Cairns Taipans three weeks ago by winning 93-81 at the Cairns Convention Centre on Wednesday night.
The Breakers trailed for much of the match but finished the stronger with a 26-14 final term guiding them to victory.
Kirk Penney was excellent in the second half scoring 18 of his 22 while Rick Rickert was the dominant figure inside the paint when the game was up for grabs.
The hosts made the running in the first term with a 9-0 run midway through the term setting up a 28-19 lead at the first break.
The Snakes dominated on the boards early out-rebounding the Breakers 13-8 for the term. The hosts spread the ball well inside the paint and had eight players on the scoresheet.
New Zealand dragged the lead back to two midway through the term thanks to their first three triples of the match, but a succession of cheap fouls allowed Cairns to open it back up to seven points at the main break.
The rebounds leveled up in the second term but the visitors continued to be on the wrong side of the referees conceding 18 fouls to seven.
Gary Boodnikoff and Oscar Forman lead all scorers with ten for the half.
The Breakers adjusted their outside radar and roared back into the contest in the third term with eight of their ten scoring shots from behind the arc. Penney hit three of those as part of his 11 points for the quarter.
When Larry Abney went coast to coast Cairns led 56-47. But the barrage of three’s from the visitors saw the score locked at 67 each at the final break.
The final term was a slugfest with both sides trading baskets. When Rickert hit a free throw the visitors had their first lead of the night 75-74 with just over six minutes to go.
Penney’s triple a minute later saw the lead out to five and the Breakers had all the momentum, they went on a 14-2 run as the Taipans struggled to find the net and the victory was secure.
The victory has the Breakers at 9-3 for the season keeping pace with the Dragons at the top of the ladder. They’ll travel down the Bruce Highway to take on the Crocs in Townsville on Saturday.
The Taipans drop to 6-6 and now head across the country to take on the Wildcats in Perth on Saturday night.
New Zealand Breakers 93 (Kirk Penney 22, Oscar Forman 19, Rick Rickert 16)
Cairns Taipans 81 (Gary Boodnikoff 19, Martin Cattalini 13, Larry Abney 12)
Breakers vs Taipans Box Score (21KB html)
