KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Breakers, inspired by a game high 31 points by Brian Wethers, pulled off a major upset in Auckland tonight, humbling the top of the table Melbourne Tigers.
The Breakers downed the high-flying Melbourne Tigers 118-97 at the North Shore Events Centre, overcoming their third-quarter blues in doing so.
Melbourne had gone into the match at the top of the table after previous leaders Perth's 100-99 defeat to Brisbane last night, while the Breakers were back in 11th spot.
The Tigers had been dubbed by Breakers' coach Andrej Lemanis as the best in the Australian National Basketball League.
But the home side, showing plenty of commitment at both ends of the court, ran out surprisingly comfortable winners.
Brian Wethers produced a game high 31 points for the Breakers, followed closely by Carlos Powell, who collected 28 points as well as eight rebounds.
For the Tigers, David Stiff and Darryl McDonald grabbed 18 points each.
With the Breakers up 61-47 at halftime, one note of concern for the home fans was whether their side could maintain their momentum into the start of the second half.
In six of their previous seven matches, they had lost the third quarter, a trend they were keen to end.
There were a few wobbles as the Tigers closed to within three points, but a key play turned out to be a Powell block that led to a three-pointer at the other end from Oscar Forman. The Breakers ended up tying the quarter 14-14.
The Tigers looked slick at the start of the contest, but the Breakers then began to edge ahead, with Powell bringing the crowd alive with a pair of slam dunks and his general athleticism.
By the end of the first half, the Californian, whose scoring average of 26.1 before the game was the second best in the ANBL this season, had accumulated 17 points.
That took him to exactly 200 points for the Breakers in just his eighth game.
In another personal landmark, Aaron Olson's game total of seven rebounds took him over the 300 mark for the franchise. Olson also scored 21 points.
The Breakers won't have much time to savour the victory. They head for Adelaide tomorrow for a match against the 36ers on Saturday night.
- NZPA
