Breakers fight back to snatch thrilling Australian NBL victory
THE New Zealand Breakers got a touch of class to hold off a Brisbane comeback in an 8584 thriller in their Australian NBL basketball game in Brisbane.
Amid the mayhem of a game that was slipping through the New Zealand Breakers’ fingers, coach Kevin Braswell had little doubt that Tom Abercrombie would deliver the final blow.
And so it transpired as the 11season NBL veteran killed off a stunning Bullets fightback with a lastsecond shot that handed the Breakers a onepoint win.
The Bullets trailed by as much as 23 points in the first half before guard Adam Gibson (17 points) and Cameron Gliddon (14) almost hauled the home side to a remarkable comeback.
Gibson hit two foul shots to give his side a onepoint lead inside the last minute before Abercrombie struck in a frantic finish to the game.
‘‘Tommy’s been up and down a little bit this season,’’ Braswell said.
‘‘But Tommy’s going to make plays when you need him to.
‘‘Whether it’s the defensive end or the offensive end — he came up with a huge offensive board as well — I thought he was great tonight on both ends.’’
The win helped tighten the Breakers’ grasp on a topfour spot while Brisbane’s second loss on the buzzer for the weekend saw the Bullets slip to fifth.
New Zealand should have had the game in their keeping after a lopsided first half but the Bullets don’t know when to quit.
Two days after it took a buzzerbeating three to sink Brisbane in Perth, the Bullets summoned energy from their reserve tank when guard Adam Gibson shot them back into contention with 17 points.
But they gave the Breakers too much of a head start, and couldn’t haul in the visitors who were superbly led by Patrick Richard’s 21 points.
‘‘It’s huge for us,’’ said Braswell whose Breakers also scored a win against Cairns in Round 5.
Going so close to a win after falling well behind showed the Bullets have admirable character.
They look a powerful side with new import Lamar Patterson (seven steals) on the floor and fourthquarter heroics from Gibson brought the 3170 crowd to their feet.
‘‘It shouldn’t take being down 20 to get to that mindset. It’s one second and [if] we win that game like against Perth, it’s 63 instead of 45,’’ Gibson said.
‘‘It’s a matter of two shots. Everything that leads up to that stuff is what’s important.
‘‘The mistakes early in the game hurt us. We show that when we play the right way, we’ll beat anyone.’’ — RNZ