Breakers 88
Hawks 60
The Breakers broke their five-match duck against the Wollongong Hawks in emphatic fashion last night to keep their NBL playoff hopes alive.
The 28-point margin of victory was the biggest of the season for the Breakers, eclipsing the 20-point drubbing they handed Cairns in round one.
They may have struggled in many of the intervening 24 matches but last night the Breakers were in a dominant, untouchable mood as they extended their season-high win streak to four. The win levelled their season ledger at 13-13 and saw them pull within a game of the fourth-placed Hawks.
With no fewer than 11 players getting on the scoresheet - only unused injured centre Rick Rickert failed to score - it was truly a team effort.
Kirk Penney led the scoring with 23 points. He was ably supported by CJ Bruton (19), while veteran forward Tony Ronaldson cashed in late with 10.
Forward Dillon Boucher picked up the rebounding slack, pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.
"It was very satisfying, not just the score but how we went about it," Boucher said. "We really played as a team [last night] and that is how we need to play.
"When our backs are to the wall we seem to play well. We've just got to keep this streak going."
They may be playing their best basketball at the right time of the season but whether the Breakers get a chance to take that form into the post-season remains to be seen.
Having done their bit for the round, all the Breakers can do now is sit back and hope other results begin to fall their way before next week's closing matches, at home to Gold Coast and away to Cairns.
The first half followed a familiar pattern for recent encounters between the two, with the Breakers looking the better team as they edged ahead, but then failing to extend their advantage to a more comfortable buffer.
Bruton was about the only player finding his range in the nervy opening exchanges, the veteran point guard nailing three three-pointers - the last of which turned into a four-point play after he was fouled while shooting.
Bruton's hot start kicked the Breakers clear and they led by as many as 12 before the Hawks rallied to cut the deficit in half by quarter time.
Back-up centre Alex Pledger made a strong impression when introduced from the bench mid-way through the first quarter. His presence, combined with a meritorious effort from the little-sighted Jeremiah Trueman, more than made up for the absence of Rickert, who sat out proceedings with an ankle injury.
A strong start to the second quarter saw the Breakers' lead extend to double figures but once again the Hawks rallied to pull within two.
The Breakers had the better of the final exchanges in the half but, given their previous late collapses against the Hawks, they would not have rested easy with a lead of just eight.
A 21-12 third quarter ensured the Breakers were well in the box seat heading into the final quarter but they would still have been kicking themselves for a sloppy final minute that allowed the Hawks to close with a 5-0 run that kept them in the match.
The Breakers have coughed up similar leads at home several times this season but an Oscar Forman three followed by a mid-range jumper from him settled any nerves and the final quarter turned into a cruise.
