Basketball: Kings double act too hot for Breakers

By CHRIS BARCLAY


A virtuoso performance by Sydney Kings captain Matthew Nielsen and stunning support from American import Ebi Ere condemned the New Zealand Breakers to their fifth straight loss in the Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) last night.

Nielsen amassed a career high 41 points while Ere formed the other half of the defending champions' dynamic duo with 37 as the Kings defeated the Breakers 109-99 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The New Zealanders now face the daunting prospect of backing up against fourth-placed West Sydney tonight (9.40pm NZT), with their opponents 109-105 overtime winners in Wollongong last night.

Spearheaded by Tall Blacks guard Phill Jones' 23-point haul, the Breakers led by six at the end of the first quarter but were gradually reeled in and tired during the run home as the Kings maintained a comfortable cushion to the final buzzer.

The Breakers 16th loss cements them in 11th place on the table and in mortal danger of missing the play-offs in their inaugural season.

They competed bravely throughout but simply had no answer to the twin threats posed by Nielsen and Ere.

"We couldn't stop their two horses, as a team we didn't get the job done," Breakers' captain Pero Cameron lamented.

The forward blamed himself for the Breakers faltering after being in touch for most of the journey.

He sparked the Breakers with 10 points in the first quarter then went off the boil managing just three more.

"I faded and I don't like that trait," he said.

Cameron also missed a three-point effort in the final quarter which turned into a six-point turnaround and made the game safe for the Kingz.

"We had a long interruption (five minutes when the scoreboard malfunctioned) and we didn't come out firing.

"I missed a wide open three and they got a hard one. That let them run the clock down."

The influence of American import Mike Chappell was also stifled initially with the forward waiting until the second quarter to net his first basket.

He finished strongly to tally 19 points but the performance of Chappell, Australian Ben Melmeth (14) and foul magnet Iona Enosa illustrated the dominance of Sydney's big men.

"We probably let ourselves down in the second quarter. As much as we've got some size our size just wasn't finishing off inside," head coach Frank Arsego said.

"Their two big name players stepped up and delivered while we tried to do it collectively (all 10 players scored).

"We needed one of our other guys to get 30 but we didn't have that consistent one guy to elevate to that level.

"I'm still pretty proud it took two outstanding individual efforts to get by us."

The Kings' 17th victory saw them replace Brisbane as the competition leaders and also earned them the new Bondi Shield for taking the three-match series against the Breakers at least 2-0.

They meet for the final time in February.

The Breakers were also undone by a crippling foul count which saw the Kings make 26 of 32 attempts. In contrast the Breakers made only 14 visits to the foul line and netted nine.

However, Cameron was not critical of the officiating.

"We had a few nit-picky ones early but we have to adjust to the way the league is called. "

In contrast to the December clash where the Breakers dominated the boards, last night the Kings won the rebound count 48-41.

The shooting percentages were virtually identical with Sydney landing 47.3 per cent to New Zealand's 47.

Meanwhile, Arsego admitted taking tonight's clash against a buoyant West Sydney was a tough ask.

"It's probably one of the tougher combinations (Kings and Razorbacks).

"It will be a test of wills but it's also our first opportunity to win a series against a quality team. "

The Razorbacks drew first blood when winning 103-95 in November but the Breakers levelled their series with an 82-80 away win last month.

Sydney Kings 109 (Matthew Nielsen 41, Ebi Ere 37) New Zealand Breakers 99 (Phill Jones 23, Mike Chappell 19, Ben Melmeth 14).

Halftime: 51-49

- NZPA