Yet another stunner as Breakers’ winning streak continues
THE STREAK lives on.
The New Zealand Breakers are now into uncharted waters after securing a club record- setting ninth straight Australian NBL victory last night, getting up 91-74 at the Wollongong Hawks.
As we’ve now become accustomed to with this club it was a case of another night, another player’s turn to take centre stage in their quest for a title threepeat.
This time it was MVP-in-waiting import Cedric Jackson and rapidly improving bench man Leon Henry who led the way for the polished Kiwi club as they massaged their record to a sumptuous 17-3.
The win was also the Breakers’ sixth straight on the road, an achievement that is now just one short of their club-best.
Forced to make their fourth trip across the Tasman in a month, the Breakers demonstrated the class that has many now rating them our premier sporting franchise.
Less than 48 hours after thump- ing the Sydney Kings at the NSEC, this glorious mix of seasoned vets, hardened competitors and emerging talents delivered yet another high-quality performance.
Jackson was back to his brilliant best last night, finishing with 18 points (8/28 FG), seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
But what about Henry? The backup small forward last night produced his best performance of the season. He played just under 15 minutes, but finished with 14 points on five-of-10 shooting.
Others played their parts, with five players breaking doublefigures and the redoubtable Dillon Boucher doing pretty much every- thing else but score the basketball.
Tom Abercrombie added 11 points, three boards and three assists, while Daryl Corletto cooled off only slightly from his NSEC heroics the other night with 11 points and a pair of assists. Mika Vukona’s 10 points on just seven field goal attempts were also valuable.
The victory breaks the club’s record of eight straight wins set back over the 2010-11 season, with the Perth Wildcats up next at Vector on Friday night.
The Hawks were led by Adris Deleon’s 24 points, four boards and three assists while Malcolm Grant made a promising debut with 10 points and four dimes. NZ Breakers (Cedric Jackson 18, Leon Henry 14, Tom Abercrombie 11, Daryl Corletto 11, Mika Vukona 10). Wollongong Hawks (Adris Deleon 24, Malcolm Grant 10, Oscar Forman 10). 1 Q: 22-19; HT: 49-43; 3Q: 68-66.
The Breakers eked out a 49-43 halftime lead, mainly thanks to a dozen first- half points and four assists from Jackson and nine points from CJ Bruton.
A 14- 4 edge in offensive rebounds also gave the boardcrashing Breakers a much-needed possession advantage, as did a 5-1 steals count.
But Deleon’s offensive firepower, with 14 first- half points, and a promising contribution from Malcolm Grant kept the Hawks within shouting distance at the major break.
The Kiwi club built the lead to double-figures early in the third, but the home side hung tough and a 9-0 run saw them to close to within a bucket (66-68).
But the game quickly tilted way back in the Breakers’ favour when Jackson, Abercrombie and Vukona got things rolling to jump out to a 17- point lead ( 84- 67) inside the final four minutes.