Breakers 109
Gold Coast 94
The playoff dream is still alive for the Breakers after they turned in an outstanding display to outlast Gold Coast in a fiery encounter on the North Shore last night.
In a match of playoff intensity - and then some - the Breakers notched the eight-point-plus victory required to get ahead of the visitors.
That means the Breakers can now qualify for the playoffs if they win in Cairns tomorrow night and the slumping Blaze go down again in Melbourne the same night.
Gold Coast may still have their fate in their own hands but the Breakers have something potentially even more important - momentum.
"We spoke about the fact it was going to be a war and going to be tough and we knew the team that could maintain their composure and intensity would be the one who won the game," coach Andrej Lemanis said.
"It all worked out perfectly for us."
If the Breakers do make the playoffs - and they can also qualify if Wollongong lose both their remaining games - they will be the team to beat.
If they don't make it, it will be a crime, albeit one they committed upon themselves with a terrible mid-season slump. Last night, however, they turned in a championship-quality performance to subdue a Gold Coast team that rode outstanding games from Tall Blacks Mika Vukona (24 points and seven rebounds) and Craig Bradshaw (15 points) to push the Breakers to the brink.
Kirk Penney was the standout with 26 points for the Breakers but it was a combined shooting performance that got them home.
Five Breakers connected from beyond the arc in the opening quarter as they surged to a 29-16 lead, and that trend continued throughout the night with Kevin Braswell, CJ Bruton, Oscar Forman and Tony Ronaldson all coming with big shots when the game was on the line.
A Dillon Boucher dunk with just over eight minutes gone gave the Breakers the crucial eight-point margin early in the first quarter but any suggestions it would be a comfortable night were quickly dispelled when Gold Coast found their feet to surge to a 34-point second quarter.
The game took on a testy edge when Ronaldson took exception to what seemed to be an illegal screen from former Breakers favourite Mika Vukona. The players had to be separated while the decision to slap Ronaldson with a technical incensed the home crowd.
The Blaze took full advantage of the call, nailing all four free throws to cut the deficit to just three.
There was no let-up in the physical nature of the contest, with the teams combining for 19 fouls in the second quarter alone.
The Breakers would certainly have felt the rub of the green went against them, with a harsh goal-tending call on Kirk Penney with four seconds remaining in the half, allowing the Blaze to trail by just three at the interval.
Both sides came out shooting in the second half, with Penney and Bruton lighting it up from the outside for the Breakers but Bradshaw answering back in style for the Blaze.
The Wellington-born big man nailed back-to-back threes and a long two before being forced to the bench after picking up his fourth foul.
The Blaze finally hit the front in a contest of wild swings with 2.21 remaining in the third quarter, leaving the Breakers with plenty to do.
Braswell got them back on track with a three and a funky lay-up on the break after pulling off a vital steal.
A Paul Henare lay-up on the buzzer meant the lead was six heading into the final quarter. A brace of threes from Ronaldson took the margin out to the vital eight points and the final nail came when the outstanding Bradshaw fouled out on a charge call with 3.27 remaining.
The Breakers have been guilty of folding down the stretch this season but last night they stayed strong to stay alive until at least tomorrow.
SCORES
Breakers 109 (Kirk Penney 26, CJ Bruton 14)
Gold Coast Blaze 94 (Mika Vukona 24, Chris Goulding 19, Craig Bradshaw 15, James Harvey 14). HT: 53-50.
