Basketball: Breakers still in good heart

The New Zealand Breakers remain winless in the Australian league despite a bold showing against title favourites Brisbane.

The Breakers held a surprise 52-49 lead at halftime at the Brisbane Convention Centre on Wednesday night, but the Bullets' class eventually shone through as they outscored the New Zealanders by 14 points in the penultimate quarter to open their campaign with a comfortable victory.

Despite losing to a team tipped to claim the Sydney Kings' crown, Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis described his side's performance as the best of the season so far.

"I said to the boys they should hold their heads up high.

"Offensively we executed well, I thought they did everything asked of them. We had some looks in the third quarter that didn't go down. There were a couple of loose turnovers - but that's part of the learning process."

After copping double-figure losses to Cairns, Wollongong and West Sydney, Lemanis was in an upbeat mood after pushing Brisbane.

"It was a much more satisfying effort. Against West Sydney [124-104] we didn't have the required energy, but we showed here we can do it.

"We were the aggressors, we got after it. We got into it defensively, we got on the boards, we out-rebounded [42-39] one of the biggest teams in the league. I was proud of the performance, the guys had a real go."

The Breakers, A$11 outsiders for the title, went toe-to-toe early with the Bullets and maintained the intensity until halftime.

Fijian-born forward Mika Vukona was singled out for praise after logging 15 points and 13 rebounds.

"Mika was unbelievable for someone of his height [1.98m]. He gives everything he's got," Lemanis said. The Breakers had a match-fitness edge on the Bullets, who after a solid opening 27-21 quarter went off the boil as the Kiwis ground their way back to a surprise three-point lead.

Tall Blacks guard Aaron Olson, who scored a game-high 23 points, hit two big threes in the second stanza, the first putting the Breakers into the lead (41-39) for the first time.

His second bomb a few minutes later reclaimed the lead 45-42.

The Breakers' tall timber, led by 2.13m Australian centre Ben Pepper, did a good job and made it difficult for the Bullets to score, though poor shooting from the line (5-15 at 33 per cent) cost the New Zealand side a bigger halftime lead while Brisbane covered 15 of their 19 free throws.

Bullets swingman Mick Hill scored a team-high 20 points.

On Sunday at Waitakere the Breakers play Hunter Pirates, who started their campaign on Wednesday with a 98-86 upset win over three-time champs the Kings.

- NZPA