Breakers beaten by Wildcats in Distance Derby
- Dave Worsley
- 17 hours ago
- 2 min read
A strong finish by Kristian Doolittle delivered a 15-point fourth quarter to be the difference between the Perth Wildcats and NZ Breakers in the 88-75 win at the RAC Arena.
Doolittle had just nine points through three quarters but exploded with 15 in the last after the Wildcats had briefly fallen behind the Breakers in front of 12,350 fans.
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The import power forward also had 14 rebounds, two assists and two steals in his game-winning performance as the Wildcats prevailed despite much of an influence from Jo Lual-Acuil Jr (eight points, 10 rebounds) and Dylan Windler (three points, three turnovers).
Ben Henshall was also a team-high +25 with 10 points and two assists while David Okwera had a significant impact too with 14 points and six rebounds to be +18 in 15:35 on court.
The Wildcats ended up pulling down 22 offensive rebounds and got to the foul line 26 times where they converted 24 while the Breakers did have 18 o-boards, they only attempted six free throws the entire game.
The Breakers' offence fell flat again in the fourth quarter with just the 15 points to come up short despite ending up taking 10 extra field goal attempts for the game and having just the nine turnovers.
Dynamic point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright again led the way for New Zealand with 22 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals with Rob Baker II adding 18 points and five boards with 4/10 three-point shooting.
Veteran big man Rob Loe returned from being in concussion protocols and had an impact with 10 points, two rebounds and two steals with 2/3 shooting from deep but it was a second straight tough night for Izaiah Brockington.
The import two man had just four points on 2/8 shooting while Next Star also had just the four points despite working hard for 10 rebounds.
Jackson Cartwright threatened to spark an upset for the Breakers (4-10) and briefly gave them the lead early in the final quarter.
Baker also impressed, but the pair were no match for Doolittle's late flourish.
Perth went into the contest without point guard Rillie, who has been ruled out for eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
They opened on an 8-0 run in an otherwise tight first half and led 43-38 at the main break after a late triple from Pepper.
Jackson-Cartwright's two three-pointers early in the final quarter put the Breakers in front before Doolittle asserted his authority.
The Wildcats' win was a positive way for captain Jesse Wagstaff to celebrate moving into the top 10 for all-time NBL appearances in his 517th game for the club.
The Wildcats remain at home to host the Tasmania JackJumpers on Friday night while the Breakers remain on the road to play the Cairns Taipans next Saturday.
PERTH WILDCATS 88 (Doolittle 24, Okwera 14, Pepper 13)
NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 75 (Jackson-Cartwright 22, Baker II 18, Loe 10)