Breakers stop the rot with OT away win
- editor59343
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
An away overtime win has stopped the run of NBL losses and given the Breakers some breathing space.
Sam Mennenga and Parker Jackson-Cartwright helped close the gap on the sixth placed Tasmania JackJumpers with the gruelling 81-80 overtime road win
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The Breakers started on fire with the opening nine points against the JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena, but the rest of the way it was a physical and brutal encounter between two teams battling over sixth spot.
In the end neither team got a good look at closing out the win in regulation but in overtime the difference was eight straight New Zealand points inside from Mennenga before Jackson-Cartwright closed the deal for the eventual one-point win.
Jackson-Cartwright ended the game with 17 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals to be the most influential player in the contest as the Breakers improve to 8-13 to close in on the 9-12 JackJumpers.
Mennenga also delivered 20 points and seven rebounds for New Zealand including scoring his team's first eight points of overtime while Next Star Karim Lopez added 13 points and four boards.
Rob Baker II had his moments with eight points, six rebounds and two blocks while fellow import Izaiah Brockington struggled on 1/10 shooting for two points including missing a three at the end of regulation that would have been a game winner.
Neither team had a great shooting night with the Breakers going 42 per cent from the field to 36 from the JackJumpers with New Zealand going 4/25 from deep to 11/38 from Tasmania.
Despite the physical contest, it wasn’t a high free-throw rate game either with only 13 attempts for the JackJumpers and six for the Breakers.
The Breakers had a vastly improved effort, focus and defence after Monday's disappointing loss in Brisbane highlighted by their 16 offensive rebounds and just 11 turnovers.
Even with having such a supportive home crowd with a sold out MyState Bank Arena game after game, the JackJumpers are 2-7 there this season while going 7-4 on the road.
Bryce Hamilton finished with 23 points on 6/13 three-point shooting while Nick Marshall scored the first 10 points for the team on the way to 15 for the game with 10 rebounds in his 100th NBL appearance.
The Breakers now don't play until their long-awaited return home to host the Perth Wildcats on Sunday January 4.
NZ Breakers 81 (Mennenga 20, Jackson-Cartwright 17, Karim Lopez 13
Tasmania JackJumpers (Hamilton 23, Marshall 15, Campbell 10, Magnay 10)