Source: Radio New Zealand
Parker Jackson-Cartwright was a big contributor in Breakers latest NBL win. Blake Armstrong/Photosport
The New Zealand Breakers have scored a second win in three games as their Australian basketball league season continues.
The Breakers eked out the victory, beating the bottom-placed Cairns Taipans in their own arena 102-96, despite a 35-point haul by local favourite Jack McVeigh.
It wasn’t a comfortable win for the Breakers, but they did lead for most of the contest, starting with a solid first quarter in which they outscored the Taipans 25-17.
Cairns closed that gap to three at halftime, but a dominant third quarter from the Breakers, which saw them pull clear by 11, enabled them to create the scoreboard pressure they’d been looking for, and close out the game.
Izaiah Brockington, Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Sam Mennenga were all outstanding for the Breakers.
In his 26 minutes on court, Brockington accumulated 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, to lead with way, while Mennenga also scored 22 points, while contributing eight rebounds and two assists.
Point guard Jackson-Cartwright was also his lively self, with 20 points, six assists and three steals.
The win for the Breakers has them on a five-win, ten-loss record, in seventh place in the ten-team league, while it was a fourth straight loss for Cairns who remain in last place with just three wins from their fifteen games.
They’ve been hit hard with injuries with Sam Waardenburg, Reyne Smith, Kody Stattmann and Alex Higgins-Titsha all out, while Tall Blacks guard Mojave King also not on court as much as he would have liked, after getting a head knock.
The Breakers now have a short break in the league due to an upcoming FIBA international window, with their next match on 3 December in Hamilton against the fifth-placed Sydney Kings.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
