Breakers get past road block

The NZ Breakers road losing streak in the Australian National Basketball League is now a thing of the past.

A strong second half and a game-high 24 points from point guard CJ Bruton propelled the Breakers to an 85-73 win over the Townsville Crocodiles in Townsville overnight.

Forward Oscar Forman had 18 points, centre Rick Rickert 12 and young swingman Tom Abercrombie finished with 10 points as the Breakers rebounded from a loss at Cairns on Wednesday night for their first win away from the North Shore Events Centre in six games this season.

The win was also special for recent pick-up, ex-Boomer John Rillie, who was cut by the Crocs in the off-season, and also coach Andrej Lemanis, who was an assistant coach in Townsville before joining the Breakers before the 2005/06 season.

After trailing by double-digits in the first period, the Breakers swung into action in the second, out-scoring the Crocs 23-12 and leveling the scores 37-37 at halftime. The Kiwis forged a six-point lead after three quarters and extended the gap to 12 points, 73-61, with 6:18 remaining.

Townsville cut the lead back to four points, 77-73, with 2:46 to play and had opportunities to close the gap even further but tough Breakers defence held them out before two baskets from Tony Ronaldson, and one from Abercrombie and Rickert closed out the game.

The Breakers head home now, gearing up to face the Cairns Taipans on Thursday night, 7pm.

NZ Breakers 85 (CJ Bruton 24, Oscar Forman 18, Rick Rickert 12) Townsville Crocodiles 73 (Peter Crawford 17, Cameron Tovey 14, Corey Williams 13). 1Q: 14-25, HT: 37-37, 3Q: 63-57.

- © Fairfax NZ News