Yearly Archives: 2022

Nov 18 2022
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College Hoops

James Moors, Callum McRae and Kaylee Smiler set career marks

November 18

In our NCAA Division I midweek roundup the headlines go the way of former New Zealand age-group internationals James Moors, Callum McRae and Kaylee Smiler. 

James Moors posted a career high 24 points, on 10 from 12 shooting (2/2 3PG), as Colorado State accounted for South Carolina 85-53 to improve to 4-0 this season. The former Junior Tall Black also grabbed 9 rebounds in the Charleston Classic victory.

Also at the Charleston Classic are Sam Mennenga and Davidson College but they didn’t meet with the same success as Colorado State – beaten 89-66 by hosts Charleston.

However Mennenga posted numbers not far short of Moors, his former Westlake and Harbour teammate, he finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds.

Callum McRae enjoyed his most productive outing of the season as Sacramento State won 73-69 at Denver. The former Junior Tall Black centre, in just his third game for Sacramento since transferring from California Riverside, scored a game high 20 points (9/14 FG) along with 8 rebounds, 7 assists and a block – he is now just 19 points short of 900 career points.

Abilene Christian guard Tobias Cameron filled the stats line in the 104-46 demolition of McMurry – he posted 11 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks and a steal.

In women’s action Kaylee Smiler, in her first collegiate start, posted 11 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists as BYU fell to a third straight loss – defeated77-66 by Oklahoma. The former Waikato representative had previously played 72 games for BYU without ever previously named to the starting five.

Ashlee Strawbridge played a major role as New Mexico State won the rivalry game against New Mexico, in overtime, 73-63. Strawbridge finished with a team high 8 rebounds to go with 9 points while playing a team high 33 minutes.

Amiee Book knocked down her first two 3-point attempts and eventually finished with 3 from 5 for 9 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals as Fresno State defeated UC Riverside 54-40.

Dejaan Schuler filled the stats line in Stetson’s one sided 92-22 win against Johnson. The Te Aroha native scored 6 points (2/5 3PG) and claimed 4 rebounds as well as an assist, steal and block.

Former Massey High School standout Yzabelle Tevao scored a season best 6 points, along with 3 rebounds, in Chicago State’s 87-62 loss at University of Illinois Chicago. 

Other Results – Men

University of California Riverside 51 (Flynn Cameron 4pts, 2rebs, 2 assists) Creighton 80

South Dakota 42 Kruz Perrott-Hunt (5pts, 5 assists, 3 rebs) Mississippi State 79

Marquette 95 (Ben Gold 3pts, 2 blocks, 1reb, 1 assists) LIU 58

Fordham 79 (Zach Riley 3pts, 1 assist) New Hampshire 61

Hartford 66 (Tom Webley 4pts, 3 steals, 1 rebound) Boston 102

Other Results – Women

Colorado 73 (Charlotte Whittaker 2pts, 1reb, 1 assist) Louisiana 43

Chicago State 57 (Yzabelle Tevao 2pts, 3rebs, 1 block) Evansville 82

Wofford 84 (Helen Matthews 4pts, 4rebs, 1assist, I steal, I block) Coastal Carolina 69 

University of California Irvine 60 (Olivia Williams 4pts, 2rebs, 1 steal) Washington 62 2xOT

Nov 14 2022
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College Hoops, Tall Ferns

Leger-Walker scores her 1,000th point; moves into elite company

Charlisse Leger-Walker moved into elite New Zealand women’s basketball company as Washington State University defeated Prairie View A&M 89-61 (on Monday morning NZT). Leger-Walker scored 24 points in the contest, her fourteenth point taking her to 1,000 career points – the 16th Kiwi to hit that mark in Women’s NCAA Division I college hoops.

By the end of the game the Tall Fern guard had overtaken Chev Paalvast (1,110 points) to move to fifteenth overall and only 22 points shy of sister Krystal’s mark of 1032.

CL-W has reached the milestone just three games into her junior (third) year, at Washington State in just 57 appearances – all of them starts.

The all-time record is held by Cantabrian Erin Rooney who scored 1,647 points in 131 games over four seasons – Monmouth University (2009-11) and Fordham University (2012-14).

Leger-Walker is currently averaging 17.7 points per game meaning, at her current rate of scoring, she would need to play 90 odd games to become the all-time leader. Barring major injuries one would imagine the record is well withing her grasp.

Worth noting from the list below is that Amiee Book, in her senior year at Fresno State University, is within 31 points of becoming the 17th player to join the illustrious group.

The full list of New Zealand women on the 1,000 NCAA Division I points list:

        1,647 Erin Rooney (Monmouth University Hawks, 2009-11/Fordham University Rams, 2012-14)
        1,624 Akiene-Tera Reed (Virginia Commonwealth 2017-21, USC 2021-22)
        1,497 Megan Compain (St Joseph’s University Hawks, 1993-97)
        1,439 Stella Beck (St Mary’s College Gaels 2014-18)
        1,291 Kendell Heremaia (Fordham University 2017-22)
        1,262 Rhaiah Spooner-Knight (Monmouth 17-18, Utah Valley 13-16)
        1,209 Tegan Graham (Colgate Uni 2016-20, BYU 2020-22)
        1,195 Micaela Cocks (University of Oregon Ducks, 2006-10)
        1,167 Ashleigh Karaitiana (University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine, 2012-16)
        1,144 Margaret Johns (Utah State University, 1979-83)
        1,096 Jillian Harmon (Stanford University Cardinals, 2005-09)
        1,089 Tessa Boagni (California State University, Northridge Matadors 2014-18)
        1,081 Josie Stockill (Colgate University Raiders, 2012-16)
        1,032 Krystal Leger-Walker (Washington State 2020-22, Northern Colorado 2015-18)
        1,110 Charlisse Leger-Walker (Washington State University 2020-present)
        1,006 Chevannah Paalvast (Monmouth University Hawks, 2010-14)
            969 Amiee Book (CSU Fullerton 2018-21, Fresno State University 2021-present)

In other news Dani Bayes filled the stats line as Boise State beat Weber State 63-52. The 2021 Tall Ferns trialist made 16 points (7/15FG) and added 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block in 33 minutes.

Tayla Dalton scored 10 points (2/3 3PG) to help St Mary’s College to an 88-81 win at California Baptist. She also tallied 4 rebounds and 2 assists while Jade Kirisome dished 5 assists to go along with 4 points as the Gaels made a 2-0 start to the season. 

Olivia Williams scored 8 points as UC Irvine edged a thriller against Sacramento State winning 60-58.

Kaylee Smiler made 3 from 3 from beyond the arc on her way to 12 points and Arielle Mackey-Williams added 7 points but BYU slipped to a 69-60 home defeat to Montana State.

Portland University Pilots found the going a little tough against Stanford, the second ranked team in Women’s Division I basketball, going down 87-47. Emme Shearer scored 9 points and Melika Samia 4 points in Portland’s first loss of the season.

In Men’s action South Dakota scored an 82-64 home win against Dakota State with Kruz Perrott-Hunt scoring 15 points to move to 717 career points – up to 10th spot amongst Kiwi points scorers in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball passing Sam Waardenburg (711 points).

Sam Mennenga continued his good early season form with 10 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of steals as Davidson College won a third straight game holding off Virginia Military Institute to win 75-71.

Other Results:

Sacramento State (Callum McRae 2pts, 6rebs, 4 assists)

Hartford 53 (Tom Webley 6pts, 4rebs, 1stl, 1 assist) St Francis 77

Nov 12 2022
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College Hoops, Tall Ferns

Charlisse Leger-Walker scores a career high

November 12

Charlisse Leger-Walker is closing in on 1,000 NCAA points after she scored a career high 35 points (11/26 FG, 9/10FT) in Washington State’s 65-59 come from behind win at San Francisco.

WSU overcame a 15-point deficit to claim their second win in as many outings, with CL-W now just 14 points shy of joining the 1000 points club. It’s the 24th time she has scored 20 points or more in 56 career games. She also had 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and a block in the game.

Washington State have a quick turnaround and play Prairie View A&M on Sunday November 13 (Monday morning NZ time) and one imagines the 1,000 points mark will be under threat in that contest.

Leger-Walker will become the 16th Kiwi to score 1,000 points in Women’s NCAA Division I college hoops joining such luminaries as Micaela Cocks, Megan Compain, Stella Beck, Tessa Boagni, and more recently Krystal Leger-Walker, the older sister of Charlisse.

In other games in the States on Friday (Saturday here) freshman Dani Bayes scored 12 points and grabbed 5 boards along with an assist and steal as Boise State were defeated 83-74 by Eastern Washington.

In Men’s Div I hoops James Moors was a perfect 5 from 5 from the field – including a made triple – as Colorado State beat Southeastern Louisiana 80-69. The junior forward filled the stats line with 11 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, an assist and a block in 18 productive minutes

Virginia were far too strong for Monmouth winning 89-42 with Taine Murray scoring 7 points on 3 from 6 shooting.

Tobias Cameron also scored 7 points to add to 4 steals, plus a trio of assists and rebounds, in Abilene Christian’s 77-58 loss to Texas A&M.

Other Results:

Southern Methodist 74 (Ella Brow 2pts, 3rebs, 1 assist) Oklahoma 97

Cal State Bakersfield 56  Fresno State 53 (Amiee Book 6rebs, 1 assist, 1 steal)

Fordham 48 (Zach Riley 1 reb, 1 assist) Arkansas 74 

Nov 11 2022
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks

Latest Div I College news – Perrott-Hunt passes significant milestone.

Four young Tall Blacks have been in action in college hoops in the last couple of days and the quartet all posted double figures with Kruz Perrott-Hunt passing a significant milestone.

Perrott-Hunt had just the 5 points in South Dakota’s 85-77 come from behind win against Lipscomb. However it was enough to carry him past 700 career points in his 80th appearance for the Coyotes. Perrott-Hunt is just the 11th Kiwi to score over 700 points in Division I Men’s basketball.

It took double overtime to separate Davidson College and Wright State before the Wildcats edged to a 102-97 victory. Following on from a double-double in the opening game Sam Mennenga posted 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists as Davidson overcame a 21-points first half deficit to record a second straight win to open the season.

Ben Gold scored his first collegiate points, in just his second game, as Marquette defeated Central Michigan 97-73. Gold tallied 11 points (4/9FG) and also added a couple of rebounds and steals. 

Flynn Cameron and UC Riverside worked their way back from a 20-point first half deficit to pip Loyola Marymount 81-79. Cameron finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Tom Webley was a perfect 4 from 4 from the field for his 8 points as Hartford recorded a dominant 85-43 victory over Northern Vermont-Lyndon.

In women’s NCAA Division I play sophomore guard Arielle Mackey-Williams drained a long three to open the BYU scoring for the 2022-23 season. Mackey-Williams, making her first ever start for BYU, went on to score a collegiate best 18 points (6/11FG, 4/7 3 PG) but there was little joy for the Cougars as they went down 82-62 to Colorado State.

Olivia Williams also scored a collegiate best as UC Irvine thumped Whittier College 98-33 in a one sided affair. Williams finished with 14 points along with 5 rebounds and a couple of steals.

Ashlee Strawbridge was a perfect 2 from 2 from both the field and the foul line for 6 points  as New Mexico State overpowered New Mexico Highlands 80-39.

Emme Shearer also scored half a dozen as Portland defeated University of Hawaii 70-54. Shearer added a couple of steals while freshman Melika Samia was a perfect 2 from 2 for her 4 points.

McKenna Dale also scored 6 points as Virginia dominated University of Maryland, Baltimore County to win 101-46. Dale also had 4 rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Helen Matthews grabbed a team high 7 rebounds to accompany 4 assists and 3 points but couldn’t prevent Wofford falling to a 79-68 loss at Clemson.

Other Women’s Results:

Chicago State 57 (Yzabelle Tevao 2pts, 2rebs, 1 steal) Butler 84.

Stanford 104 California State University Northridge 40 (Rochelle Fourie 1pt, 1reb)

Stetson 56 (Dejaan Schuler 1 assist) Miami 80

Nov 08 2022
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College Hoops

Massive day of Division I hoops

It was a massive day of NCAA Division I college hoops today with no fewer than 29 Kiwis in action.

Tobias Cameron equaled his career best points tally and Sam Mennenga posted a double-double – here is a review of the action beginning with the Women’s action.

Charlisse Leger-Walker filled the stats line as Washington State proved much too good for Loyola Marymount winning 93-41. The Tall Ferns guard added 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block to 16 points on 7 from 12 shooting.

Tayla Dalton scored the first basket of the season for St Mary’s College as they went on to defeat Nevada 67-58. The 2022 Tall Ferns 3×3 guard scored 12 points (4/7FG, 4/6FT) and had 4 rebounds and 2 assists.

Amiee Book scored 11 points as Fresno State beat Fresno Pacific 66-49. The Grad Senior also snared a couple of steals and 4 rebounds in the win.

Emme Shearer made 4 from 6 from the field for her 10 points while also adding 6 assists, 5 rebounds and a couple of steals as Portland University Pilots beat Willamette 92-56. Melika Samia had 2 points, 2 steals, 3 rebounds and an assist on debut for the Pilots. 

Freshman Dani Bayes made 4 from 7 threes amongst her 12 points as Boise State swept past Multnomah 110-59. Bayes also added 2 assists and 3 rebounds in just 16 minutes.

Just short of double figures was Helen Matthews as she tallied 9 points in Wofford’s 81-72 loss to Youngstown State. Those points take the Cantabrian past the 300 career points mark.

A couple more Cantabs were in action as New Mexico State took on Colorado.

Ashlee Strawbridge, on debut, played a team high 37 minutes for New Mexico as they fell 85-55 to Colorado. Strawbridge finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds and a steal.

For Colorado Charlotte Whittaker, working her way back to match fitness following five operations on hip injuries and a 20-month layoff, claimed a couple of rebounds, a block and a single point in 11 minutes.

Freshman Ella Brow didn’t score any points but she did dish a game high 6 assists as Southern Methodist University defeated Texas A&M International 88-54.

Another freshman Rochelle Fourie scored with her first shot in Cal State University Northridge colours. The Palmy North forward scored just the 2 points on 1 from 2 shooting as CSUN were overpowered 88-56 by the University of California.

The Schuler sisters each scored on their Division I debuts also.

Breeje knocked down one from two free throws as Eastern Washington got an 86-47 win against Corban while Dejaan made a three for Stetson as the Hatters defeated Flagler 79-52.

In Men’s Division I action Kruz Perrott-Hunt carried the scoring load for South Dakota in their 85-59 loss at Wisconsin. KP-H scored 12 of South Dakota’s first 15 points before going on to register 21 points on 10 from 20 from the field. He also had a pair of steals plus triples in rebounds and assists.

Another 2022 Tall Black Sam Mennenga had 3 rebounds and 2 assists in the opening three minutes and went on to post a double-double as Davidson College defeated Guilford 87-64. Mennenga finished with 11 each in rebounds and points to accompany 3 assists and a steal.

Fellow Tall Black Flynn Cameron, in his 50th Division I start, scored 11 points to go with 7 rebounds and 2’s in steals and assists in Californai Riverside’s 82-66 loss at Colorado.

Brother Tobias nailed 18 points – equaling his career high – making 4 from 7 threes as Abilene Christian saw off Jackson State to win 65-56. Cameron senior added 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 bocks and a steal in a fine all court game.

Callum McCrae, in his first game for Sacramento State since his transfer from UC Riverside, pulled down 10 rebounds and tallied 6 points in the 76-50 loss to UCLA.

James Moors scored 6 points as Colorado State edged Gardner Webb 65-63 while freshman Akiva McBirney-Griffin had a trio of points and rebounds with a couple of assists as Cal University Irvine comfortably beat Chapman 96-50.

There were also some useful performances in pre-season games last week worthy of mention.

Grace Hunter, fresh off her strong season with the Tokomanawa Queens, dished a game high 5 assists to go with 7 points (3/4FG) as California State University Bakersfield beat Biola 96-57.

Florence Dallow marked her NCAA Division I debut in fine style knocking down 5 threes from 7 attempts to tally 17 points as Portland beat Warner Pacific 94-45. 

Dallow’s New Zealand Junior Tall Ferns teammate Lilly Parke was in equally good form as Auburn University at Montgomery were pipped 81-78 by Southern Mississippi. The former Auckland Basketball and Baradene College forward top scored with 19 points (7/10FG, 4/4 3PG) in just 15 minutes.

Nov 07 2022
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Breakers by Numbers, NZ Breakers

Skipper returns but Breakers defeated

The Sydney Kings continued their remarkable sequence of results on the road as they inflicted an 81-77 loss on the Sky Sport Breakers at Spark Arena on Sunday.

The Kings have now won 17 straight away games, the victory taking them to 7-2 and outright first in the ladder. It’s not all doom and gloom for the Sky Sport Breakers as they sit a lofty second on the NBL table with a 6-3 record entering into the two-week international break.

The Breakers looked dead and buried at half-time trailing 45-27 and with the margin still 18 points at the three-quarter mark a tame finish looked likely. However the Breakers poured in 31 fourth quarter points as Izayah Le’afa and Tom Abercrombie inspired a spirited comeback.

The Breakers reduced the deficit to two points in the dying seconds but with the clock their enemy the home team couldn’t get any closer.

It had been 33 months and 72 games since skipper Tom Abercrombie felt the warmth of home crowd support and the Breakers veteran received a terrific ovation as he entered the arena for his 372nd appearance for the club. He demonstrated that he had lost none of his defensive ability or his hops – a trademark fourth quarter dunk complimenting two earlier triples.

Here are the latest club records and milestones:

Lost 81-77 v Sydney Kings at Spark Arena on Sunday

Will McDowell-White nabbed his second double-double of the season in accumulating 10 points and 12 rebounds.

His 10 points moved him past 400 points for the Breakers – the 35th player to reach this milestone. Phill Jones was the first to reach the mark late in the inaugural 2003-04 season while Tai Webster, who was still at Forrest Hill Primary School when Jones made his 400th point, was the most recent in the 2020-21 season.

Tom Vodanovich played his 100th NBL game rather fittingly against the team he won a championship with last season and suited up for on 67 occasions. He first played for the Breakers between 2018 and 2020 before shifting to Sydney for a productive two seasons.

Barry Brown Jr is proving to be a model of consistency. With 22 points against the Kings the Breakers leading scorer this season has now scored between 22 and 24 points in five of the six games he has played.

Izayah Le’afa moved past the century mark in points this season with his 15 points on 7 from 12 shooting.

Upcoming

The Breakers have another home game to look forward to on Sunday November 20 when they take on the Adelaide 36ers at Trusts Arena, 48 hours after a match up in Tasmania against the Jack Jumpers.

Those two games follow the FIBA window when both the Tall Blacks and Australian Boomers will play two World Cup Qualifying games.

Dan Fotu and Alex McNaught headed off with the Tall Blacks on Monday morning to contest the Tall Blacks away games against Jordan on November 13 and Lebanon three days earlier.

Nov 01 2022
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ANBL, College Hoops, Kiwi's Abroad

Ili returns plus other news of Kiwis overseas

In our latest wrap we look at Shea Ili’s return to court, a career high for Sam Waardenburg and some early American college news.

Firstly Shea Ili. The dynamic point guard made his first appearance for Melbourne United after missing the opening four rounds of the Australian NBL season with concussion issues. The Tall Black guard made an immediate impact in helping guide Melbourne United, on a three-game slide, to a 94-77 home win against Perth Wildcats.

Ili scored with his first two shots, both threes, and went on to post 9 points (3/4FG), 4 assists and 3 rebounds in just 13 minutes of action. Corey Webster scored 8 points for the Wildcats.

Sam Waardenburg, in his rookie pro season, scored a season high 20 points as Cairns Taipans lost a points-fest at League leaders Sydney Kings 106-103. In a fine all-round game Waardenburg also posted 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals. 

In Europe Tai Webster produced 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists as Socar Petkimspor defeated Bursaspor 80-72 to improve to 3-2 in the Turkish Super League.

Finn Delany had a pair of 11-point outings for Bonn as the German club recorded two victories.

Firstly it was a 73-66 European Champions League win against AEK Athens followed by a 94-85 success against Goettingen in the German League.

In the German second division Matt Freeman scored 10 points and added 6 rebounds although his club Bremerhaven suffered a 73-66 loss to Tuebingen.

Isaac Fotu tallied a team high 17 points (8/13FG) but Tochigi Brex were given something of a hiding by Chiba Jets going down 87-58. The Jets (7-2) lead the East Conference of the Japanese League with Brex (3-6) now sixth.

Jillian Harmon, who played on the Tall Ferns 3×3 team at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham earlier in the year, has confirmed she has re-joined Basket Landes for the upcoming French League season.

Tera Reed scored 19 points (5/10FG, 4/4FT) but Tampereen Pyrintö were defeated 82-77 by HBA-Marsky in the Finnish League. Pyrintö have slipped to 2-4 on the season although all four losses have been by 6 points or less.

Most American college campaigns commence in the coming days but a handful of pre-season games have already been played.

Flynn Cameron started his season rolling on a high note as UC Riverside defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills 94-79. The combo guard scored 21 points (5 from 9 threes) and added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.

Asian Cup Tall Black teammate Kruz Perrott-Hunt was also in strong form as South Dakota mauled Simpson 101-55. KP-H finished with a game high 24 points (10/15FG, 4/8 3PG) to accompany 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

James Moors led the Colorado State rebounding count as they inflicted a 91-52 defeat on MSU Denver. The junior forward added 6 points, 2 assists and a steal to 10 rebounds.

Fresh from the Tall Ferns tour to Melbourne Charlisse Leger-Walker filled the stats line with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and a brace of steals as Washington State defeated Westmont 64-40.

Oct 31 2022
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ANBL, Breakers by Numbers

Breakers on a high despite Loe low.

NZ Breakers coach Mody Moar and Barry Brown Jr of the Breakers. New Zealand Breakers v Tasmania JackJumpers, Round 2 of the 2022-23 NBL Season at Spark Arena, Auckland, New Zealand on Friday 7 October 2022. © Mandatory credit: Andrew Cornaga / http://www.photosport.nz

The Sky Sport Breakers sit atop the NBL ladder alongside the Sydney Kings – who they face at Spark Arena next Sunday  – after demolishing the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers 94-62 at Spark Arena.

The win was achieved despite the loss of in-form big man Rob Loe who took a head knock in the opening quarter and didn’t return to the fray. 

Without his running mate, Derek Pardon stepped up posting his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds while Tom Vodanovich enjoyed extended minutes to record 10 points and 5 rebounds. Jarrell Brantley got the better of his opposite number Rashard Kelly in recording 11 points and 8 rebounds in just 23 minutes.

Import combo-guard Barry Brown Jr was once again a major spark off the bench – his game high 24 points being his fourth 20+ points haul in just five appearances by the American.

The victory moves the Breakers to 6-2 on the season, already one win more than the club engineered in the whole of the 2021-22 season.

What made the most recent win even more meritorious was the fact that Tasmania had had a week to prepare for the game whereas the Breakers had spent all day Saturday travelling back from Adelaide via Sydney. 

On Friday, the Breakers were equally impressive as they recorded their biggest ever win in Adelaide thumping the much vaunted 36’ers 99-70; the Breakers fourth win from five away games. 

The 4-1 road start has only been bettered twice in Breakers history. In 2008-09, in the second season under the influence of Tony Ronaldson and Kirk Penney, the Breakers started the season with 7 wins in the first 8 away games while in the 2010-11 championship campaign it was a 6-1 start on Australian soil

Here are the latest club records and milestones:

Won 99-70 at Adelaide 36’ers on Friday night

Jarrell Brantley had season highs in points (22), rebounds (9), assists (3) and steals (4). He also became the first Breaker to score 100 points this season.

Izayah Le’afa , with 15 points, passed the 500 career points milestone in his 65th NBL game.

With a season high equalling 7 dimes Will McDowell-White moved past Finn Delany into 11th spot on the Breakers all-time assists list – he now has 231 to his name at 4.4 per game.

Won 94-62 v Tasmanian Jack Jumpers at Spark Arena on Sunday

Rob Loe played his 150th NBL game against the Jack Jumpers (28 of those with Cairns Taipans) while Tom Vodanovich played his 99th game in the League – 67 of those with the Sydney Kings.

With 24 points Barry Brown Jr became the second Breaker to pass the 100-point mark for the season.

Upcoming

The Breakers have a mouth-watering home game against top Sydney Kings on Sunday before the NBL goes into recess for 11 days to accommodate the next FIBA window when both the Tall Blacks and Australian Boomers will play two World Cup Qualifying games apiece.

Will McDowell-White needs 8 more points to reach 400 points for the Breakers.

Cam Gliddon is closing in on a couple of notable milestones. He needs just 6 rebounds to total 1,000 career boards and 23 points to pass 3,000 career points spanning 11 seasons in the NBL.

Oct 25 2022
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Kiwi's Abroad, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

Overseas Roundup – Former schoolmates go head to head

Former Rangitoto College class mates Olivia Berry and Penina Davidson were on opposing sides for the first time since school days as the Tall Ferns took on the Melbourne Boomers on Saturday – the Boomers beating an inexperienced New Zealand team 85-62. 

Congratulations to Olivia on scoring her first points in the black singlet while Micaela Cocks stretched her record number of appearances for the Tall Ferns to 145.

Another pair of ex-Harbour and Rangitoto teammates were in opposition in Cairns on Sunday. It was Dan Fotu with the smiles as the Sky Sport Breakers beat Sam Waardenburg’s Cairns Taipans in a low scoring contest 68-64, the win taking the Breakers to second on the NBL ladder. 

Earlier in the week fellow Breaker Rob Loe brought up 600 career NBL rebounds with 8 boards against South East Melbourne Phoenix while Waardenburg scored 13 points as the Taipans registered an impressive 83-78 road win against defending champions the Sydney Kings.

Tyrell Harrison has made a return to the Brisbane Bullets ranks after a long spell out with injury. He was outstanding in the one-point loss to South East Melbourne Phoenix (89-88) accumulating 11 points and 8 rebounds in just 19 minutes.

Further afield Isaac Fotu scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting but Tochigi Brex had their three-game winning streak ended as they dropped their Japanese League double-header at Alvark Tokyo, beaten 77-75 and 60-57. Fotu had 13 points and 7 rebounds in the second loss.

Tai Webster produced 14 points and 5 assists as Socar Petkimspor defeated Darussafaka 94-75 and improve to 2-2 in the Turkish League.

Brother Corey Webster scored 9 points for Perth but the Wildcats were trounced 103-72 by the Tasmanian Jack Jumpers in the Australian NBL.

Another former Harbour and Westlake player Yanni Wetzell enjoyed a couple of midweek outings for ALBA Berlin.

ALBA won a German Cup Round of 16 tie 98-95 against Bonn. Wetzell scored a season high 23 points (9/10FG, 5/7FT) for Berlin while former Breakers teammate Finn Delany notched 12 points for Bonn. Wetzell tied the contest in the closing minute after Bonn had led 93-91. He added two free throws with 20 seconds remaining as the reigning champions advanced to the quarter-finals.

48 hours later he scored 11 points as Berlin thumped Greek side Panathinaikos 94-65 in a EuroLeague fixture.

Bonn put the cup defeat behind them by claiming a 79-72 League win at Braunschweig on Saturday – Delany with 11 points and 7 rebounds. 

Also in Germany Matt Freeman scored 13 points, making 3 from 5 from deep, as Bremerhaven won a thriller on the road against Jena 71-69. The victory improves Bremerhaven to 2-2 on the Pro A League ladder.

Tall Fern Tera Reed registered her third double-double in five games as Tampereen Pyrintö secured an exciting 73-72 Finnish League victory at Vimpelin Veto. Tera finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds as Pyrintö improved to 3-2 for the season.

Also close to a third double-double was Zoe Richards as AB Contern easily defeated Les Sangliers 83-60 in Luxemburg League action. Richards finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds as Contern improved to 5-1 on the season.

Nelsonian Gracie Roberts-Hare is playing her fourth season in the Dutch League. After three seasons with Lekdetec she has moved clubs and scored 13 points on debut for Triple Threat in a 71-61 win against Martini Sparks Haren.

Oct 24 2022
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ANBL, Breakers by Numbers

Breakers overcome Cairns and the NBL schedulers

The Sky Sport Breakers celebrated their 600th NBL game with a 68-64 victory in Cairns on Sunday afternoon in the midst of a ridiculous schedule – more on that shortly.

Missing their opening 14 shots the Breakers scored just 5 points in the first quarter yet somehow recovered to force the win. Those handful of points equaled the Sydney Kings unwanted record of the least number of points in the opening period of an NBL game.

However, led by 24 points from Barry Brown Jr, the Breakers recovered to trail 32-23 at half-time and by just five (50-45) at three-quarter time before grinding out the win in the fourth to leap frog the Taipans into second place on the NBL ladder.

Given the Breakers were playing for the fourth time in 10 days, and a fourth away game in their opening six fixtures, a start of 4 wins and 2 losses probably exceeds expectations given also that the club only won 5 from 28 games in the whole of last season.

Now back to the schedule in which the NBL boffins certainly have done the Breakers no favours. Having played all 28 games in Australia last season and 29 of 36 across the ditch the season before you would have thought a little sympathy may have been forthcoming from those in charge of scheduling at NBL HQ.

Not a chance – instead, just three weeks into the season, the Breakers have already visited three Australian states, undertaken five international flights and a couple of domestic hops.

It doesn’t get any easier this week for Round 5. They return from Cairns today (Monday), fly to Adelaide on Thursday (for a game against the 36ers on Friday) then return on Saturday to play the Jack Jumpers – who won’t have played for 7 days – at Spark Arena on Sunday.

Here are the latest club records and milestones:

Lost 99-77 against South East Melbourne Phoenix at Trusts Arena on Thursday

Reuben Te Rangi and South East Melbourne have won two straight at Trusts Arena although the games were played 17 months apart!

You might recall that the Breakers returned to New Zealand after playing 29 consecutive road games in the 2021 season, completing the campaign with seven straight games on home soil. The finale was played at Trusts with SEM claiming an 83-78 win.

Only Tom Abercrombie, Rob Loe and Will McDowell-White remain on the Breakers books from that first Covid affected season.

Loe received a blooded cheek after copping some friendly fire from Tom Vodanovich but returned to snare an eighth rebound in the game and chalk up his 600th NBL career rebound (86 of those during his single season with the Cairns Taipans). 

At Cairns Taipans on Sunday Won 68-64.

Will McDowell-White played his 50th game for the Breakers in Cairns. 

Barry Brown Jr, with 24 points, took his tally to 60 points in his three outings. With Derek Pardon averaging 11.3ppg (and 7.3 rebounds) and Jarrell Brantley 13ppg the three imports have settled in nicely.

Achieving victory scoring 68 points is the lowest total the Breakers have scored to gain a win since the leaky roof victory at Illawarra in February 2020. Breakers won 65-52 after the game was called off with three minutes to play in that one.

Otherwise we have to go back to New Year’s Eve 2012 when the Breakers eked out a 66-61 win, also in Cairns – a certain Cedric Jackson scored 17 points that night.

For the record the Breakers are 301-299 in those 600 games.

Upcoming

Izayah Le’afa is four points shy of 500 career points with Will McDowell-White needing 16 more for 400 career points.

Tom Vodanovich and Rob Loe are closing in on a couple of milestone games. Loe will play NBL career game number 150 next Sunday against the Jack Jumpers while Vodanovich needs to log three more appearances for his 150th.

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