KEY POINTS:
New Zealand Breakers star Kirk Penney hailed the "warrior" Tony Ronaldson as they helped blitz Cairns 100-78 and book another sudden death Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) playoff in Brisbane.
Tall Black Penney topscored with 30 points while Ronaldson bravely hobbled through on a strained achilles tendon to play a key role as the Breakers celebrated their first ANBL playoff appearance in style last night.
"He's a warrior, you saw him (Ronaldson) limping the whole time. He did a great job but everyone stepped up, especially at the defensive end," Penney told Fox Sports.
"We came off two losses in the regular season (in Sydney and Perth) and we had our backs against the wall. That was the feeling all week at practice so it was great to come out and play like this."
The Cairns Convention Centre crowd of 5000-plus fell silent as the Breakers stormed home with a 55-30 second half to send the heavily favoured Taipans packing.
A flight to Brisbane loomed today for a knockout quarterfinal against the third-placed Bullets, who beat them 125-93 there in December.
If they can conjure another upset, against the defending champions, it's off to Melbourne next week for a three-match home and away semifinal against the second-placed Tigers.
Said coach Andrej Lemanis: "Certainly we take in a lot of confidence but it'll be a different style of game, a bit more up-tempo so we need to prepare for that. Let's bring it on."
Despite being hardly able to lift his feet, the 2.03m Ronaldson offered the composure the Breakers needed most as they looked flat at 45-48 down at halftime.
The former Australian international, 35, was playing a record 80th ANBL playoff match and his nine points, six rebounds and seven assists were the backbone of the win.
Plenty of ice and physiotherapy will be on the menu to ensure Ronaldson can play a role in Brisbane.
Penney, as he has done all year, led the way with a game-high 30 points and nine rebounds, veteran Derrick Alston had a big all-round game with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and fellow import Orien Greene snared 17 points and four steals.
The visitors out-rebounded the hosts 49-29 and their tough defence shut out the Taipans in the second half as they chased a third consecutive ANBL semifinal appearance.
Guard Stephen Black had 18 first-half points but added just two in the second half, while the much-vaunted centre Nathan Jawai had a season-low four points as Ronaldson and Alston kept him in check.
"It's something we've brought into in the last month or so, we've certainly understood that's where we need to get it done.... The guys put in the effort and got the reward which is great," said Lemanis after his first playoff match as head coach.
Penney felt they could ride the confidence wave through to Brisbane.
"The energy came back this week and we really felt it lift, the bench lifted, the fans that we had here got us going," Penney said.
"... (Brisbane) played really tough and last time we were there it wasn't pretty. We're looking forward to getting some recovery in, it's a game in a couple of days and I'm sure they'll be fresh."
- NZPA
