Breakers stun Brisbane by snatching victory with last-second shot

Scotty Hopson sank a last-second three-pointer as the New Zealand Breakers stole a 99-96 Australian NBL win in Brisbane last night.

The Bullets opened the scoring after 10 seconds and led the entire match until the Breakers levelled at 94-94 with 42s left and then 96-96 with 8.4s on the clock. Hopson, who finished with 27 points, gave the Breakers the lead for the first time with his nerveless late heroics.

“They played such good basketball but luckily I made a great shot and we got the win,” said Hopson.

That saw the Breakers (7-10) climb above the Bullets into seventh, with the fourth-placed Cairns Taipans within reach at 9-9. The win was the third in a row and second on the road for the Breakers, who next play on Sunday in Adelaide (8-9).

The Breakers initially failed to match the defensive intensity of the

Bullets and a 14-0 run in the first quarter looked like proving decisive for the hosts. They were up 29-17 at the first break and maintained a handy advantage for most of the match, leading by 16 at one point.

Nathan Sobey was the dominant figure in the first half, scoring 15 points on his way to a season-high 29.

The Bullets were up 51-41 at halftime and 82-71 at three-quarter time, at which point the home fans would have been feeling confident given their side had won all seven games when ahead at that stage.

But then Hopson, Finn Delany and Sek Henry got to work. whittling away Brisbane’s lead until that final shot left the home fans stunned.

NZ Breakers 99 (Scotty Hopson 27, Finn Delany 18, Robert Loe 14, Sek Henry 13)

Brisbane Bullets 96 (Nathan Sobey 29, Lamar Patterson 21).