KEY POINTS:
Breakers 99 Adelaide 36ers 90
ADELAIDE The New Zealand Breakers brought the Adelaide 36ers' recent revival to a halt with a thrilling 99-90 victory in their NBL clash at the Distinctive Homes Dome in Adelaide last night.
The Breakers pulled away early to lead by 10 points at the first break, but had to withstand a furious second half fightback from the 36ers to win their fourth game of the season.
Carlos Powell was easily the Breakers' most impressive performer with a remarkable 34 points, while Ben Pepper (21) and Brian Wethers (18) also had a night to remember.
For the home side Willie Farley and Nick Horvath shot 23 points each, while Lanard Copeland was also a useful contributor with 18 in a match that featured the return of 36ers captain Brett Maher after a seven game injury layoff.
Sadly for the home fans, the return of Maher failed to live up to expectations as the skipper looked rusty from weeks of watching his team from the sidelines.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said he was proud of his team's effort in front of a noisy home crowd.
"What I guess I'm particularly most pleased with is the fact that we did it with our defence," he said.
"We knuckled down and made Adelaide take tough shots consistently, kept them to 18 in the fourth quarter and we rebounded.
"So the two effort areas of defence and rebounding was what got us over the line."
Adelaide coach Phil Smyth said the 36ers had lost to a good side tonight, but also blamed the loss on the fact his players had played in Sydney the night before.
"We had to travel while they were here the night before resting and to get ourselves back in the game then it just takes too much energy to maintain that," he said.
The Breakers were the first to settle as they jumped out to a 10-point lead at quarter time, courtesy of some class shooting from US import Wethers who finished with 11 points for the term and the towering Pepper.
The 36ers struggled to find any rhythm in a frustrating first term for the home fans.
Early baskets in the second quarter from David Cooper and Horvath pulled the 36ers to within three points, but the Breakers steadied with Powell asserting his authority with an eight point haul for the term to set up a 46-52 lead for the visitors.
The second half started with Wethers and Powell shooting the Breakers out to a 48-58 lead, but a fired up Farley brought the crowd to life with some clinical finishing.
Midway through the third term a brilliant Farley pass for Mark Nash put the 36ers in front for the first time at 64-63 as the match turned into a shootout.
On the three quarter time buzzer the Breakers still led 74-72.
With the momentum shifting in Adelaide's favour the Breakers came up with some desperate defence in the final stanza and it was Powell who made the difference with a series of pressure baskets to steer his side home.
The victory gives the Breakers a 4-5 record to keep them in touch with the NBL's top eight, while the 36ers' season sits precariously at 4-7.
- AAP
