It was a result which was on the cards from the beginning, with Adelaide shooting out to an early eight point lead as they canned three early triples.
Despite missing influential forward Mitch Creek, Adelaide still could call upon a strong eight-man rotation, all who contributed as a bench-led run gave the 36ers a double-digit advantage.
The 36ers were getting to the line with regularity, taking 37 free throws to the Breakers' 23. It was a tightly-called game under the basket, and the Breakers were struggling to stay out of foul trouble, with all four of their big men having racked up four fouls by the third quarter.
Edgar Sosa (24 points) tried to keep the Breakers in the contest, but his counterpart, Nathan Sobey (22 points), was up to the challenge, with the two guards trading threes in an entertaining battle.
However, he was running out of support. First Finn Delany fouled out after back-to-back fouls on attempted offensive rebounds, before Rob Loe picked up his fifth midway through the final period.
When Alex Pledger fouled out shortly after, Breakers were still down by 10, and quickly running out of big men. That deficit remained steady until 90 seconds remaining, when the Breakers kick-started a remarkable near-comeback.
A Sosa three, coupled with a Jordan Ngatai bucket, had the visitors back within three points, before amazingly; Sosa swiped another steal, and the resulting Tom Abercrombie layup made it a one point game with 35 seconds to play.
The Breakers had their opportunity when Josh Childress missed a three, but – with no big men left – Daniel Johnson grabbed the offensive rebound for the 36ers, was fouled, and hit two free-throws.
Sosa had one final chance to send it to overtime, but came up short, with the 36ers clinging on, and knocking the Breakers off their perch.
36ers 95 (Nathan Sobey 22, Daniel Johnson 17)
Breakers 92 (Edgar Sosa 24, Tom Abercrombie 14)
HT: 52-44
