Breakers 84
Melbourne 79
The Breakers survived a lacklustre 31-point second half to maintain their unbeaten start to the NBL season with a victory over the Tigers on the North Shore last night.
The sight of Kirk Penney standing around in a tee-shirt and jeans while his team struggled mightily to produce enough offence to get them home against the 0-3 Tigers raised several questions - the most obvious of which was why was the club's best offensive player not on court?
The official explanation was that Penney will need time to re-integrate into the side after missing the opening part of the season chasing an NBA roster spot.
But that explanation would have looked a bit weak if the Breakers had blown it against the Tigers last night. Players have played on worse preparation, and Penney is an exceptional talent.
Coach Andrej Lemanis may have been sending Penney - and those who soldiered on without him - a message about commitment. Fair enough, but a home loss to a poor side would have been a high price to pay.
As it is Penney will rejoin an undefeated team that is now second favourite for the title when they travel to the Gold Coast on November 6. Wins over traditional league heavyweights Sydney, Perth and Melbourne represent the best start to a Breakers season.
Things now get tougher, with the gold Coast trip followed by a double header away to Adelaide and Perth but, even so, the Breakers will be more than content with the way they have begun their campaign.
They made a promising start, creating an open basket for Mika Vukona on their opening possession and then forcing the Tigers into an eight-second mid-court violation.
But after that it was the visitors who settled better, point guard TJ Campbell making the Breakers pay for leaving him open with a brace of three pointers.
The Tigers led by as many as seven mid way through the quarter but the momentum swung in the Breakers' favour when centre Alex Pledger emerged from the bench. Pledger outgunned the Tigers big men, producing two blocks and a game-high 11 first half points.
Trailing by one at quarter time, the Breakers eased to 51-46 halftime lead. Only a sparkling long range shooting display kept the Tigers in it.
A trio of three pointers from CJ Bruton saw the Breakers take control of the match but a cold spell on offence mid-way through the third quarter allowed the Tigers to construct an 8-0 run to level the scores.
A Luke Neville dunk then put the Tigers ahead for the first time since the opening quarter.
Pledger finally stopped the run with a single free throw but the Tigers notched three more straight baskets to extend the run to 16-1 and take a seven-point lead. The Tigers still took the quarter 22-13 to take a 68-64 lead into the final break.
Baskets from Gary Wilkinson and Bruton to open the quarter drew the Breakers level and Bruton's fourth three-pointer then put them back in front where they just managed to stay.
Breakers 84 (CJ Bruton 25, Gary Wilkinson 14 Alex Pledger 12, Tom Abercrombie 12)
Melbourne Tigers 79 (TJ Campbell 18, Eric Devendorf 16, Cameron Tragardh 16, Luke Nevill 14). HT: 51-46.
