The miserable season continued for the New Zealand Breakers on Saturday night as they went down to the bottom-placed Cairns Taipans 106-105 at Trusts Stadium, Auckland. Despite a spirited final quarter rally which saw them almost overtake Cairns in the last seconds, it was the Breakers' poor first-half shooting that let them down. They took time to warm up, with Mike Chappell eventually firing from the free throw line followed by field goals as the Taipans clocked up fouls ? Tony Rampton, Anthony Stewart and Melvin Thomas all sitting on three early in the game. Stewart set out on a three-point scoring spree for Cairns to give them a 30-27 advantage at the end of the quarter. Pero Cameron, coming off the bench towards the end of the quarter, came through with five points for the home team. Thomas was outstanding in the next 12 minutes and coupled with Stewart's shooting had Cairns out to 59-42 at the break. The third quarter blues that have plagued the Breakers in their recent games was in the making again as Stewart hit a career milestone of 1000 points from the three-point line to put Cairns out to a 21-point lead. The vocal crowd of over 2000 then witnessed some of the best basketball from the Breakers for some time as they bridged the gap with a series of three pointers from Cameron and Aaron Olsen. Going into the final quarter Cairns were ahead 84-78. A fired up Breakers then lost possession at vital times when they could have taken the lead. Cairns were sent to the penalty line 24 seconds from the end and it was left to dumped Cairns player Marcus Timmons to level the score with a three-pointer and send the match into overtime. A three-pointer and a Cairns free throw gave them a four point buffer. Then on fulltime Cameron stepped up from way out to hit a three pointer, but it was too late for the hapless Breakers. Cairns 106 (A Stewart 25, N Crosswell 22, M Thomas 17) bt Breakers 105 (P Cameron 23, M Chappell 17, A Olsen 17, B Pepper 17). Halftime: 59-42. - NZPA
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.