Breakers blow lead
WELLINGTON: Josh Boone and Casper Ware clocked the big numbers but it was the fitagain Chris Goulding who iced the cake as Melbourne United overcame the New Zealand Breakers 108101 in a colourful ANBL spectacle in Invercargill.
The defending champions overcame a sevenpoint halftime deficit last night to hold off the Corey Websterinspired host side down the stretch.
It was the first ANBL game staged at New Zealand’s southernmost city and featured numerous highlights, most notably from visiting American pair Boone and Ware.
Centre Boone mixed 26 points with seven rebounds and four blocks while the speedy Ware contributed 24 points, including backtoback bombs from well outside the threepoint line to put his team in front with less than four minutes remaining.
Fellowguard Chris Goulding did not start because of a knee niggle that has caused problems in recent rounds.
He eventually found his rhythm and sank his third threepointer with 47 seconds on the clock to virtually secure the outcome.
Secondplaced Melbourne held strong in its seventh game in the space of 20 days to improve its record to 73 and close the gap on leader Perth.
The Breakers drop to 44, failing to find support for guard Webster, who scored 20 of his 31 points in the first half and produced a careerhigh eight assists.
Centre Shawn Long bagged 15 points and six rebounds but was largely eclipsed by Boone, who was disappointed the Breakers had been allowed to play the fastpaced style they wanted.
It was another impressive offensive home outing for the Breakers, who have surpassed 100 points in their last three such games.
‘‘Unfortunately it’s not the type of game that we want. That’s much more their style,’’ Boone said.
‘‘Our game is kind of more grinding out and getting defensive stops. Towards the end of the game we started to do that.’’
Boone was thrilled to see Boomers sharpshooter Goulding ‘‘absolutely back’’ and warned tomorrow’s opponent Brisbane to be on its game defensively.
The result was a sweet one for Melbourne assistant coach Paul Henare, who walked out of his Breakers head coaching role under a cloud during the offseason.
Longserving former Breakers centre Alex Pledger was also pleased to play a small part in the Melbourne win and said he appreciated being in the same team as the likes of Ware and Goulding.
‘‘Playing against those guys for almost 10 years, it is nice to be wearing the same colours as them,’’ he said.
‘‘Corey was hot in that first half. We adjusted our defence and did a pretty good job on him in the second half.
‘‘Any time you walk out of New Zealand with a W, it’s a good win.’’ — AAP