Melbourne wins first against Breakers

MELBOURNE: Melbourne United recorded its first win of the NBL season with a thrilling 10498 comeback victory over the New Zealand Breakers.

It took a 2617 final quarter from the home side on Saturday to grind down the visitor at Melbourne Arena and ease the pressure on last season’s grand finalist.

With centre Alex Pledger (illness) joining injured import

Casey Prather on the sidelines, United relied on its star power with Shawn Long (27 points, 11 rebounds), Melo Trimble (24, six assists) and Chris Goulding (24, five threepointers) steering the side home.

After three tight losses, United came up big in crunch time, as Trimble’s clutch free throws gave his side a 10298 lead with 15 seconds to play.

Long iced the game from the charity stripe after a missed threepointer from New Zealand’s NBL Next Star RJ Hampton.

‘‘We talked about toughness during the week and I thought we put ourselves in some holes today,’’ United coach Dean Vickerman said after his side found a way to win, despite trailing for most of the night.

‘‘I’m really pleased we found a way to tough it out.’’

Coming off their first win of the season against Illawarra, the Breakers led by 12 points in the second quarter with Brandon Ashley (24 points, seven rebounds) and Corey Webster (17) leading the way.

But New Zealand cooled off from threepoint range in the second half as United roared home in the final quarter.

Breakers coach Dan Shamir praised his squad for their efforts over three quarters before fatigue and Ashley being fouled out worked against them.

‘‘It always gets tough in the fourth quarter and we have to get better looks and stops and we didn’t,’’ Shamir said.

‘‘We have to play better in those moments but I think we left everything on the floor tonight and it was not enough.’’ — AAP