Breakers 108
Wildcats 94
KEY POINTS:
An impressive grudge-match victory over the Perth Wildcats saw the Breakers tie their franchise-high five-match winning streak on the North Shore last night.
Again forced to overcome a hefty early deficit against the in-form Wildcats, the Breakers this time did it largely without money man Kirk Penney.
The league's leading scorer was limited to just six points from eight shots but storming games from Rick Rickert and Oscar Forman - and a grandstand finish from CJ Bruton and Phill Jones - led the Breakers to victory in what was another tempestuous encounter between the clubs.
The bad blood between the clubs following the Breakers' round seven victory was evident throughout with Jones - suspended for striking Shawn Redhage in that earlier encounter - again the main protagonist.
It was Jones who had the last laugh again last night though, exploding in the fourth quarter for a game-high 22 points.
With Bruton (22 points) also in sizzling form in the final quarter, the Breakers finally saw off the tenacious Wildcats after the game had been tied with six minutes remaining.
That the Breakers were in a position to win was down to a vastly improved defensive effort and the performances of Rickert and Forman. American Rickert dominated in the paint for a 17-point 13-rebound double double, while Forman's 19 points included four of six from beyond the arc.
Having been over-run early in the previous encounter, the Breakers were determined not to be out-muscled again.
The Wildcats, however, didn't get sucked into a physical battle, doing the damage from the outside with six of eight three-pointers in the first quarter helping them to a commanding 35-22 lead.
The Wildcats left Auckland last time feeling hard done by the officials but it was two generous calls in their favour that allowed them to make the first break. Forward Isiah Victor was awarded a basket despite his shot coming an age after a Tim Behrendorff foul then, at the other end, Behrendorff had a basket disallowed thanks to a dubious charge call on Dillon Boucher.
After a tit-for-tat opening, the calls handed the Wildcats the momentum and they took full advantage, stretching to a 15-point lead.
Despite an out of sorts Penney managing just a single point in the half, the Breakers cut the deficit to eight at the break with a 25-20 second quarter.
Jones was the chief contributor for the Breakers and he got to the visitors. At the heart of another all-in confrontation that ended up being little more than handbags-at-dawn shortly before the interval, Jones was also singled out for attention as the players headed to the locker rooms. Perth's Peter Crawford made a beeline for Jones only to be cut off by Tony Ronaldson and the teams had to be separated.
Whether it was Andrej Lemanis' pep talk or the halftime scuffle that did the trick, the Breakers certainly came out firing in the second half, posting a 9-2 run to close to within a point.
