KEY POINTS:
Razorbacks 104
Breakers 96
When the normally placid Mika Vukona tears down the court pounding his hands together in frustration you know the Breakers aren't in their happy place.
Deep into the second quarter with his side attempting to overhaul a 14-point deficit, Vukona pulled off a neat strip and drove to the basket before executing a nice fake and offloading to Tony Ronaldson.
But the big Aussie veteran wasn't on the same page and the ball clattered off his shins.
The play was symptomatic of the Breakers' efforts. The odd brief spell of fluidity aside, there was little rhythm in their passing and even less in their shooting strokes.
They were lucky to trail by just six at halftime after twice eating into game-high 14-point deficits just when the Razorbacks seemed about to blow out the match completely.
That the Breakers hung in at all owed plenty to the introduction of Kirk Penney, who missed his first four shots before connecting with four straight three-pointers and finishing with a team high 23 points.
The only other bright spark in an otherwise anaemic first half offence was point guard Wayne Turner, who looked the class act as he chipped in with 10 points.
Ronaldson, who connected with just one of eight first-half shots and fared little better in the second, set the early tone with misses from three-point range. The usually reliable Oscar Foreman struggled, failing to connect from a series of open looks and there was little first half help as the Breakers shot just 37 per cent from the field.
Despite not appearing to be the flashiest side in the league, the Razorbacks had no such problems, connecting with seven of their 11 three-point attempts and shooting 50 per cent.
Jones nailed consecutive threes to pull the Breakers within three in the third quarter but the Razorbacks again pulled away to lead by eight at three-quarter time.
When Foreman nailed a three with eight minutes remaining the Breakers were within a point. But, led by impressive import Darnell Hinson, the Razorbacks eased away again.
A furious late 12 point rally took the Breakers within sight of a remarkable comeback but once again they missed clutch shots with the game on the line.
