Crocs Bite Breakers
Tagged in: NZ Breakers
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Lendl Ryan, Sportal
A John Rillie-inspired Townsville Crocodiles defeated the Harvey Norman NZ Breakers 108-88 at Townsville Entertainment Centre in the Australian Hummer NBL Championship on Saturday night.
With the game poised for a tight finish, the captain stole the show and the game away from the visitors in the fourth quarter when he took matters into his own hands.
Two six-plus point scoring runs, including consecutive three pointers, ensured his side finished victorious at the final whistle and him with a game high 27 points.
The Breakers’ Kirk Penney (26), Orien Greene (20) and Derrick Alston (18) did their best to avoid a blow out, but Rillie and his support crew of Corey Williams (22) and Greg Vanderjagt (17) could not be denied.
Williams chipped in with a 12 point opening quarter, while Vanderjagt dominated the boards for the hosts with seven rebounds.
The Breakers struggled to contain Williams early, conceding easy fouls to send the American to the free throw line to open the scoring and then for a second time in a matter of minutes. An intercept from Williams then sent him sailing spectacularly down the court and through two defenders to register another basket.
The visitors kept in touch through new import Greene and Penney who shared the load in attack. But the margin began to grow with the injection of Kelvin Robertson, who found a three-pointer with his first attempt at the basket.
And it seemed the Breakers began to know something was wrong, with both sides coming together heatedly after Vanderjagt was awarded a contentious foul which he then converted.
Greene then showed the resilience the Breakers were missing to fend of Williams and find the net to begin the second. A timeout was called shortly after, and the Breakers seemed to find their groove and begin to shred the Crocs’ lead.
The hosts dominance started to dwindle, Rillie running into a Breakers brick wall to turn the ball over and let the lead slip to three. The captain then gave up a second turnover as the visitors started to return serve.
But if the Breakers were guilty of sleeping early, they were now guilty of overdoing it with two illegal screens in quick succession to leave the scores 55-49 in the home side’s favour. The Breakers must have fine-tuned their aggression during the break, because they appeared to get the offence dose just right to begin the third by slashing the margin back to four.
The Crocodiles, on the other hand, fouled Penny on the free throw line to gift him another three attempts which he sank with ease.
When the home side looked like again extending the lean two more free throws to Alston after he hit the ground hard, thanks to some imposing defence from Vanderjagt kept the visitors in touch. But a Michael Cedar three-point special ensured the Crocs remained in front 77-69.
Step up Rillie – the captain sank consecutive three pointers to begin the final chapter. He followed it up with a two and then from the free throw line after the Breakers was called for technical foul for delay of game.
The “Real Deal”, as he is affectionately known, then sank another three to make another Crocs win all the more likely. The Breakers tried to their best but their efforts were in vein as the home side ran away victors.
Townsville Crocodiles (John Rillie 27, Corey Williams 22, Greg Vanderjagt 17) Harvey Norman NZ Breakers (Kirk Penney 26, Orien Greene 20 Derrick Alston 18)
Box Score – Breakers v Crocs (html 52KB)
