Basketball: Breakers sneak past Crocs

Tom Abercrombie paced the Breakers to victory over the Crocs. Photo / Getty

Crocs 80
Breakers 87

What started as a stroll turned into a scrap but the Breakers will be more than happy with their weekend's work.

The Breakers (6-3) tonight edged past Townsville (3-4) to complete a sweep of their Sunshine Swing road trip and solidify second spot in the Australian NBL.

They had to work much harder for the win than they would have liked, though, squandering a 25-point lead in the first half and left hanging on for dear life late.

Two nights after handing Cairns their first defeat of the season, the Breakers looked like carrying that form into tonight's clash with the Crocs. They certainly showed no signs of fatigue from their exertions on Friday - in fact, they appeared as fresh in the first half as they have been all season.

The Breakers scored 36 points in the opening quarter alone, making an incredible 13 of their 17 attempts from the floor and remaining perfect from deep. A 16-point lead after the first period advanced past 20 in the second and it appeared as though the result was all but wrapped up.

But the Breakers allowed their opponents back into the game and the Crocs closed to within three in the final quarter, before the Kiwi club closed out a nervy victory.

Tom Abercrombie paced the Breakers with 19 points, including a dagger three-pointer when the game was on the line, while Ekene Ibekwe continued his impressive form from Friday night. The Nigerian international fell just short of a second straight double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine boards, while fellow import Cedric Jackson chipped in with 16.

All three players did the majority of their damage in the opening half, with the visitors breaking free on the back of a 15-0 run. Such was their efficiency, the Breakers went almost five minutes without missing a shot, moving the ball around well to enjoy a good spread of scorers.

Townsville, on the other hand, were ice cold, completely shut down by the Breakers defence and limited to just two points in an eight-minute span stretching into the second quarter.

By that stage the Breakers' lead stood at 25 but such an offensive outburst soon proved unsustainable, with the Crocs moving within 10 heading into halftime. The Breakers endured an increasing inaccuracy when shooting while they were also committing more turnovers, handing over possession on four straight occasions late in the third as the Crocs trimmed the deficit to five.

Rhys Carter appeared to seal the result in the fourth when his third triple boosted his side's advantage back to double digits but, just when it looked like the Breakers would walk aware with the win, the Crocs then moved to within a possession.

But the Breakers held on, helped by a pair of free throws from Mika Vukona that made him the sixth player to finish with double figures.

Crocs 80 (Blanchfield 23, Steindl 15, Conklin 11)
Breakers 87 (Abercrombie 19, Jackson 16, Ebekwe 14)
HT: 41-51