36ers 96
Breakers 86
KEY POINTS:
The Breakers' comfortable run through the NBL got decidedly uncomfortable as they fell to the Adelaide 36ers on the North Shore last night.
Of more concern than the two points dropped against a team they beat by 38 points in round three was the injury to star point guard CJ Bruton in the warm-up.
Back spasms meant Bruton didn't take the court and that, coupled with the suspension of Phill Jones, meant the Breakers were always up against it against the reinforced 36ers.
They battled manfully and were level with 1m 37s remaining in the final quarter but, without Bruton and Jones, lacked the artillery to finish off the 36ers down the stretch.
The defeat saw the Breakers drop to 7-3 for the season and, with a tough three-game road trip against the Tigers, Taipans and Crocodiles to come over the next seven days, things only look like getting tougher.
With the rash of injuries that derailed the club at a similar time last season still fresh in their minds, the Breakers will be particularly concerned about Bruton's health.
Without the veteran Australian playmaker they simply aren't the same side.
Tony Ronaldson did his best to step into the breach in a game that also served as a celebration of his passing Andrew Gaze on the league's all-time appearance list. The veteran forward had 23 points, including four of 10 three pointers, but the Breakers weren't able to make up for the loss of Bruton and Jones.
Paul Henare started in Bruton's absence and the switch had little early effect as the Breakers stormed to a 14-8 lead.
Ronaldson - who was presented with the game ball from Saturday night's record setting match against Townsville in the pre-match build-up - hit back-to-back threes as the Breakers made a hot start. But just when Jones would have been providing some spark off the bench the Breakers began to fade and their six-point lead quickly turned into a four-point deficit.
Coach Andrej Lemanis was forced to turn to development players Thomas Abercrombie and Corey Webster. They were both on in the first quarter and Abercrombie made a promising start with a nice rejection of Mark Tynedale's attempted lay-up.
By quarter-time the Breakers had clawed back to 22-22 but a 12-0 36ers run to start the second quarter threatened to blow the home side out early. Again Ronaldson stepped up to keep the Breakers back in it. They led by one at halftime and kicked eight clear in the third quarter before being reeled in to trail by one heading into the final quarter.
