Basketball New Zealand

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NZ Breaker forward Mika Vukona (Photosport)

The Harvey Norman NZ Breakers have fought back from an early 17-point deficit to record a stirring 93-83 victory over the Perth Wildcats at the North Shore Events Centre on Thursday night.

After a horror start, the Breakers showed great determination to claw back on the back of an inspired performance from forward Mika Vukona.

The recent franchise centurion lead the way with a personal best scoring performance and an outstanding fourth quarter defensive effort as the home team outscored the Wildcats 25-12.

Vukona, who sustained a large gash above his left eye, recorded his first double-double of the season with a total of 18 points and 16 rebounds providing the perfect foil for another Kirk Penney 30-point haul.

For the Wildcats, forward Shawn Redhage toiled hard all night and finished with 22 points to accompany his eight rebounds, while three other Wildcats players scored in double figures.

However, as was the case versus the Gold Coast Blaze last Saturday, they found themselves out-gunned on the boards 37-50 by a hugely committed home side.

Breakers shooting guard Penney praised the resilience of his team-mates and singled out Vukona for special mention.

“Mika was an absolute beast for us tonight, he was so huge for us, without that performance we probably wouldn’t have come away with the win. I’m so proud of the boys.”

Both sides defended their respective hoops with great intensity throughout the 48 minutes with the Breakers finding points desperately hard to come by in the initial 15 minutes while the Wildcats’ scoring dried up dramatically over the last 10.

The fourth-placed Wildcats looked to have the Breakers measure in the first quarter leaping off to a 12-2 lead after four minutes on the back of triples from Peter Crawford and Jeff Dowdell, while guard Gerald Brown was penetrating well.

Breakers scoring lynchpin Penney had uncharacteristically cold hands early, missing his first four attempts.

And a frustrated home side leaked turnovers through a variety of refereeing penalties as they conceding charging, traveling and offensive foul indiscretions on the way to seven consecutive possessions without any points scored.

Typically tight Perth defense was choking the Breakers offense, forcing coach Andrej Lemanis to ring the changes, subbing four of his starting five.

Captain Paul Rogers and Tom Garlepp stepped up the pressure with some big shots to stretch the lead to 23-10, before Dowdell added his second bomb to blow the score out to 29-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Phill Jones hit his first three early in the second to cut the lead to 22-34 but Redhage was beginning to find his groove with eight points from four consecutive possessions as he began to look ominously comfortable in the key.

With six minutes remaining, Brown hit his second three and the Wildcats appeared to be building an insurmountable lead at 43-26.

At half-time, the scoreboard read 51-43 to the visitors with Redhage the man doing the most damage with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists.

For the home side, Vukona was battling valiantly with 12 points and five rebounds – a contribution that was crucial as his side’s primary scoring options struggled for rhythm.

And it looked like business as usual as Perth started the third stanza strongly, with Redhage scoring a bucket inside and Crawford adding five points in two shots while the Breakers’ shots continued to rim-out.

Then with 10 remaining in the third the Breakers finally awoke with an unanswered eight-point run sparked by Penney and Jones’ threes, before Orien Greene put the Breakers in front for the first time with a trademark steal and fast break dunk.

In a response typical of the passion displayed by both teams on the night Perth showed their steel by immediately retaliating with coolly taken triples to Joe Shipp and Crawford – Perth was back in front by five.

Perth started the fourth with just one starting player on court while four of the Breakers’ first choice men entered.

With time ticking bye and both teams struggling to score Vukona lifted his team-mates with an acrobatic play to keep a possession in bounds. Jones then stepped up and capitalised on the gutsy play with a transition three to give the home team a two-point lead and a sniff of momentum.

In the closing five minutes, Perth coach Scott Fisher brought his experienced players back into the fray, but Vukona was sticking to Redhage like glue and the Wildcats found themselves out-hustled around the hoop with their inside, and outside, shots refusing to drop.

With less than three minutes remaining, Redhage was called for traveling under double team pressure and down the stretch, Tim Behrendorff, Vukona and Penney drove a dagger into Perth hearts with clutch field goals to secure a the win.

Next up in the Hummer NBL Championship, the Breakers (14-12) travel to Melbourne on Saturday night to play the South Dragons, while the Wildcats (15-11) return home to Perth where they host the top of the table Sydney Kings.

Harvey Norman NZ Breakers 93 (Kirk Penney 30, Mika Vukona 18, Phill Jones 14)
Perth Wildcats 83 (Shawn Redhage 22, Joe Shipp 14, Peter Crawford 11, Gerald Brown 11)