BOXSCORE
The New Zealand Breakers almost let victory slip before out-lasting the Townsville Crocodiles 81-70 in front of a packed North Shore Events Centre on Thursday.
With the Crocs charging to within two points late in the game, superstar-in-the-making Tom Abercrombie spectacularly blocked point guard Eddie Gill at the rim, then coolly slotted a triple at the other end to put the Breakers clear.
American Gary Wilkinson led all scorers with 18 points and 10 rebounds for New Zealand, while compatriot Gill paced the Crocs with 17 points.
Breaker Cedric Jackson (15 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals) won the point guard battle though, while Abercrombie was everywhere with 13 points, seven rebounds and four blocks.
Not coincidentally, the Breakers have now sold out six of their past seven home games.
“I think it shows crowds can have an impact on the outcome of games,” coach Andrej Lemanis said.
“You walk out on the court and the crowd’s got their chants going – it’s tough for the opposition to come in here and it certainly shows we’re tough to beat in this building.”
Wilkinson got the scoreboard ticking with a simple lay-up, then Jackson dunked home a pretty backdoor play as the hosts sprinted clear, 29-15.
A pair of treys from Michael Cedar stopped the bleeding for Townsville, and although a rare Jackson three-pointer had the Breakers 16 points up momentarily, Peter Crawford struck from long range on the buzzer to whittle the margin back to just 46-38 at half-time.
The Crocs tested their rivals with a big line-up in the second half and immediately threatened to erase the gap.
They were within four points when Gill slotted a trey, but Wilkinson responded in kind and the difference was soon back out to double figures.
The Crocs charged again and when forward Jacob Holmes tipped home an offensive rebound as the third quarter expired Townsville had closed the difference to seven points (63-56).
When Cedar further reduced the gap with a tough left-hander New Zealand no longer seemed in control.
The Crocs rattled off eight straight points, a Holmes trey with three minutes remaining moving them within a basket.
“I guess you could say we woke up,” Crocs coach Paul Woolpert said.
“To our credit, we did get back into it with hard work and made it a game ... But you can’t dig that deep a hole and more importantly, get out-rebounded 40-27 and give a championship team that many more possessions on their home court.”
Abercrombie then stepped up with his crucial cameo, before Wilkinson and Mika Vukona responded to a successful Gill drive over Abercrombie to seal the win.
“At times, we were our own worst enemy,” said Lemanis.
“We got in a funk at the offensive end and were just out of sync a little bit. We weren’t running anything that resembled our offence and as a result we had some clumsy possessions.
“But in the effort areas we out-rebounded them, forced 15 turnovers and had 16 assists, so there were some good signs there.”
The occasion also provided a fitting celebration for the Breakers' newest favourite son – Daryl Corletto – who chalked up his 300th NBL game.
New Zealand Breakers 81 (Wilkinson 18, Jackson 15, Abercrombie 13, Pledger 11)
Townsville Crocodiles 70 (Gill 17, Crawford 11, Holmes 11, Mims 10)
Crowd: 4000 (sellout) at North Shore Events Centre, Auckland
