Monthly Archives: January 2023

Jan 31 2023
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks

Kruz Perrott-Hunt the latest Kiwi Centurion

January 31

Kruz Perrott-Hunt has moved into an exclusive century club after playing game number 100 for the University of South Dakota today.

Perrott-Hunt is just the 17th Kiwi male to bring up a century of NCAA Division I appearances joining a distinguished list that includes fellow Tall Blacks Kirk Penney, Tai Webster, Rob Loe, Mark Dickel, Jack Salt and Sam Timmins.

KP-H scored 10 points in his ton up game but it was a contest in which South Dakota suffered its biggest loss of the season going down 103-53 at Summit League leaders Oral Roberts.

The senior guard is enjoying an outstanding senior season – he leads the Coyotes scoring with 305 points at 14 per game making 40% (40/100) of his 3-point shots and 84% (43/51) from the foul line. In addition he is second on the team for assists with 2.0 per game.

Another milestone beckons – he is currently just 19 points shy of 1,000 career points.

Jan 30 2023
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College Hoops

Women’s NCAA weekend review – Matthews with a season high

January 30

Helen Matthews takes the spotlight as we review the weekends Women’s NCAA Division I action. Matthews played a significant part in Wofford College Terriers securing a pair of Southern Conference away wins. The brace of victories takes Wofford to equal first on the conference standings with a 5-2 record.

Matthews top scored as Wofford recorded their first ever success at Mercer winning 76-71. The Cantabrian guard made 3 from 6 threes on her way to 21 points.

Matthews followed that with a valuable 8 points and 8 rebounds, playing all 40 minutes for the first time in her career, in Wofford’s 79-75 road win at Samford – the former Junior Tall Fern is now just 6 points shy of 500 career points.

Portland (10-1) maintained second place on the West Coast Conference ladder comprehensively beating Loyola Marymount 58-39. Emme Shearer top scored for Portland with 12 points and in claiming 10 rebounds recorded her first collegiate double-double.

Lauryn Mapusua earned 10 free throws and converted 8 on her way to 14 points as Houston Christian (3-5) lost 59-48 to Northwestern State.

McKenna Dale tallied 11 points in Virginia’s (3-6) 90-72 loss to Syracuse.

Ella Brow scored 8 points as Southern Methodist (5-3) got the better of Tulsa winning 61-54.

Five Kiwis were on show as BYU (7-4) got the better of Saint Mary’s 74-59. For BYU Kaylee Smiler scored 9 points (plus 4 blocks) and Arielle Mackey-Williams 7. St Mary’s forward Amy West contributed 6 points and 6 rebounds while Jade Kirisome, in her 100th NCAA game, made 5 points and Tayla Dalton 4 points.

Saint Mary’s followed that with a 67-54 home defeat at the hands of San Diego – 7 points for Dalton in that one.

Seven points and 5 assists for Grace Hunter in the 79-57 defeat California State Bakersfield suffered at the hands of UC Davis.

Dani Bayes, last week named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Week, scored 6 points as Boise State (4-5) flew past Air Force 60-55.

Charlisse Leger-Walker had a rare scoring off-night as Washington State overcame #19 Arizona 70-59, Leger-Walker made 5 from 6 free throws but was 0 of 13 from the field. The Tall Fern still found other ways of impacting the contest as she gave 7 assists and pulled down 10 rebounds.

Amiee Book also scored 5 points, bringing up 200 points for the season, as Fresno State went down 75-56 to San Diego State.

Ashlee Strawbridge added 6 rebounds to 4 points as New Mexico State (6-3) edged Abilene Christian 69-61.

Jan 30 2023
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College Hoops

Tobias Cameron surpasses Rob Loe’s all-time Men’s NCAA record

Over the last few days Callum McRae, Sam Mennenga and Tom Webley have set new career marks but it is the record set by Tobias Cameron that headlines the latest Men’s NCAA Division I roundup.

Playing his 134th game for Abilene Christian University Cameron has set a new New Zealand record for the number of games played by a Kiwi in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball. Cameron celebrated the milestone with a win – tallying 8 points and 5 rebounds as Abilene pipped Utah Tech 81-76.

Rob Loe, who played 133 games for the University of St Louis Billikens (2010-14), had previously held the all-time high appearance record. The Tall Blacks centre still holds the record for most starts – 121.

It should be noted that Loe played the standard four years at St Louis while Cameron has taken advantage of the additional ‘covid year’ to play a fifth year at Abilene.

Callum McRae pulled down 9 rebounds to accompany 15 points as Sacramento State (5-4) were  beaten 72-65 by Montana State. McRae has pulled alongside Tai Webster (University of Nebraska Huskers, 2013-17) as the second highest Kiwi points scorer in Men’s NCAA Division I basketball. Kirk Penney is the all-time leader with 1,454 points for the Wisconsin Badgers.

In collegiate game number 99 Kruz Perrott-Hunt made 3 from 4 threes on his way to 13 points as South Dakota (5-5) secured an 81-67 road win at St Thomas. With 971 career points the Tall Black is closing in on the double of 100 appearances and 1,000 NCAA Division I points – only achieved previously by four Kiwi men. 

Davidson College snapped a four game losing streak with a 64-57 win at La Salle. Sam Mennenga was once again to the fore leading Davidson in points and rebounds with a double-double of 27 points (10/16FG, 3/4 3PG) and 11 rebounds. Those 27 points were a career high and it was the third double-double in the last five games for the 2022 Tall Black.

Mennenga followed that with a team high 16 points against Rob Loe’s alma mater St Louis but Davidson (3-6) came up short against the Atlantic 10 Conference co-leaders losing 74-70.

Despite Hartford falling 76-52 to Pennsylvania Tom Webley produced a career high 16 points shooting a highly efficient 8 from 10.

Flynn Cameron totalled 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists as UC Riverside (8-2) beat UC San Diego 72-65.

Tafara Gapare came up with 6 points and 4 rebounds as Massachusetts (4-5) got past Duquesne 87-79.

Akiva McBirney-Griffin tallied 5 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks as UC Irvine (7-2) outclassed Cal State Northridge winning 81-56.

James Moors also scored 5 points in Colorado State’s (2-7) 80-59 loss to Boise State.

In other news Wellingtonian guard Ahmed Essahaty made his debut, playing a couple of minutes, for Long Island University in their 73-66 loss to Stonehill. 

Jan 29 2023
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ANBL, Breakers by Numbers

Breakers play-offs bound

The Sky Sport Breakers pulled off an impressive pair of wins in Round 17 of the NBL thrashing the Bullets in Brisbane 99-71 on Thursday before seeing off Melbourne United at Spark Arena on Sunday.

Victories number 15 and 16 for the season have secured the Breakers a first play-off spot since 2017-18 and the first under the ownership of Matt Walsh.

The 80-74 defeat of Melbourne, which keeps the Breakers in the hunt for a second place finish, was meritorious on a number of counts.

Melbourne had won five games on the bounce and had also won the last nine encounters against the Breakers stretching back over the last three seasons – however it should be noted that all but one of those games were played in Australia.

Jarrell Brantley’s 18 points led the way for the Breakers with pivotal contributions also from Rob Loe (15 points & 6 rebounds), Rayon Rupert (12 points) and Derek Pardon (11 points & 8 rebounds).

However it was the Breakers fourth quarter defence that stood out forcing the 2021 NBL champions into a rash of turnovers while holding them scoreless for almost four minutes of that final stanza.

Cairns (17-9) and the Breakers (16-10) each have two games to play to decide the top three makeup. Sydney Kings (18-7) appear certain to win the regular season while fourth place  Perth Wildcats (14-11) could make the top three but a number of results would have to go their way.

The numbers from the two Round 17 games:

Home v Melbourne:

The Breakers completed their regular season home programme with a 7-7 record (4-5 at Spark Arena).

It was Rob Loe’s 62nd win in Breakers colours – he draws level with Reuben Te Rangi in equal 12th spot as the winningest Breaker.

In his 83rd NBL game Izayah Le’afa brought up 700 career points – 425 of the points scored during his two seasons with South East Melbourne Phoenix.

Tom Abercrombie’s 2 points in the game means he has 100 points chalked up this season.

at Brisbane Bullets:

Brantley became the first Breaker to score 400 points this season – the power forward averaging 16.1 points per game for the season, 22.2 over the past five outings.

Derek Pardon pulled down his 200th rebound this season.

In other news former Breaker Corey Webster brought up 3,000 NBL points in Perth Wildcats recent win. He joins Tom Abercrombie (4,268 points), Kirk Penney (3,773) and Mika Vukona (3,218) in the distinguished Kiwi 3,000 points club.

Upcoming:

The Breakers final two regular season games are at Illawarra on Thursday February 2nd and at the Brisbane Bullets 48 hours later.

Jan 23 2023
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NZ Breakers

Road Warriors – the latest Breakers numbers

Who could have predicted that in Round 16 of the NBL the Sky Sport Breakers would lose at home to the bottom placed team on the ladder and win on the road against the team at the top of the table?

In front of a crowd of over 14,000 the Sky Sport Breakers pulled off one of their more impressive wins of the season defeating the table topping Kings in Sydney 93-88 on Sunday.

Jarrell Brantley was immense piling on 30 points to accompany 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and a steal – his banked three with 15 seconds to play the game clincher.

Will McDowell-White was equally impressive reeling off a double-double of 20 points and 10 assists, a performance even more meritorious given he had to carry added back court responsibilities given the absence of the injured Izayah Le’afa and Barry Brown Jr.

Earlier in Round 16 the Breakers had gone down 78-76 to cellar dwellers Illawarra Hawks 78-76, the Breakers undone by a dramatic Tyler Harvey long range three as time expired.

With one home game to come, against Melbourne United on Thursday at Spark Arena, the Breakers record is 6-7 in New Zealand and 8-3 on the road. This means the Breakers, for the first time in the club’s history, will have a superior regular season away record than home record.

Perhaps those 57 games played in Australia in the previous two years have provided the foundation for the successes on the road!!

Here are the numbers:

Thursday v Illawarra Hawks at Spark Arena:

Derek Pardon made his 8th double-double of the season producing a season high 17 rebounds (10 of those offensive) to accompany 19 points.

2 points from French Next Star Rayon Rupert took him to 100 points for the season.

Sunday in Sydney against the Kings:

Derek Pardon, with 11 points in the contest, became the third Breaker (all the three imports) to score 300 points this season.

Brantley’s 30 points was a season best for the power forward and within a point of the individual high for the club in 2022-23 – Barry Brown Jr scored 31 against South East Melbourne back in December in Christchurch.

McDowell-White’s double-double was his fourth of the season.

Rob Loe and Cam Gliddon both passed the 100 points mark for the season, Loe also now with 901 points for the club – the 20th Breaker to reach the milestone.

Jan 21 2023
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College Hoops

NCAA DI midweek wrap – Mennenga, Cameron, McBirney-Griffin, Mackey-Williams the standouts

21 January

Cameron was just one point shy of his season best in scoring 25 points (10/20FG) as UC Riverside (7-1) took care of business against Cal Poly winning 83-78. 

The Tall Black guard followed that with a team high 19 points and added 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals for the Big West Conference leaders as they edged a tight one against UC Davis winning 74-72.

Cameron has passed 200 points for the season and is also closing in on 800 career points – a mark reached in NCAA Division I Men’s basketball by just eight Kiwis including current players Callum McRae and Kruz Perrott-Hunt.

Sam Mennenga remains in good form but Davidson College (2-5) slipped to a fourth straight Atlantic 10 defeat going down 68-61 at Dayton. Mennenga completed his fourth double-double of the season amassing 15 points and 13 rebounds whilst moving his career points tally to 704.

Second in the Big West are UC Irvine (6-1). in their latest game freshman Akiva McBirney-Griffin enjoyed his first double digit outing as Irvine beat Hawaii 76-68. The Waikato native finished with 11 points (4/7FG) and 3 rebounds plus one each in blocks, steals and assists.

Doing well in the Big Sky Conference are Callum McRae and Sacramento State (4-2) although they did drop their latest game, defeated 69-65 at Idaho State. McRae was held to 8 points and 4 rebounds in this one.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt scored 10 points as South Dakota (3-4) fell 82-64 to South Dakota State.

Tobias Cameron, passing 200 points this season, scored 7 points as Abilene Christian (1-4) fell to a heavy 84-54 defeat against Utah Valley.

Tom Webley posted 6 points on 3 from 4 shooting in Hartford’s 87-62 loss to Maryland Baltimore. The Cantabrian forward also reeled in 3 rebounds along with 3 assists and a block.

Colorado State (2-5) were defeated 82-76 in overtime by San Diego State. James Moors scored just the one point but did snag 8 rebounds and a career high 4 blocks.

In other news former Onslow College and Scots College guard Ahmed Essahaty has been added to the Long Island University roster for the remainder of this season.

—————

BYU (6-2) made it seven wins on the bounce defeating San Francisco 78-59 with Arielle Mackey-Williams posting 13 points (5/8FG) and Kaylee Smiler 6 points. Sophomore  guard AM-W also distributed a career high 6 assists and passed 200 points for the season at 9.2ppg.

Helen Matthews scored 11 points and claimed 3 rebounds as Wofford (3-1) accounted for Chattanooga 64-51.

Joy for Yzabelle Tevao and Chicago State as the Cougars won their first game of the season pounding Olivet 108-50. Tevao finished with 11 points (5/9FG) and 8 rebounds – both season highs for the West Aucklander.

Dani Bayes and Boise State entertained Amiee Book and the Fresno State Bulldogs and it was Boise that protected home court winning 60-53. Bayes scored 10 points – Book 3 points and a couple of steals for Fresno.

Grace Hunter scored 8 points and added a pair of assists and steals as Cal State Bakersfield (2-5) defeated Cal State Fullerton 64-58.

Olivia Williams scored 7 points, snared a couple of rebounds and had a single, assist, steal and block as UC Irvine, 7-0 in Big West Conference play beat UC Santa Barbara 70-60.

McKenna Dale produced 7 points, 6 rebounds and a couple of assists as Virginia (3-5) went down 77-68 to Florida State in the ACC.

In a game featuring a bunch of Kiwis, St Mary’s (4-4) were given a hammering by Portland (7-1) going down 64-41. Emme Shearer (7pts, 4rebs) and Melika Samia (4rebs, 1 block) wore the smiles of victors while Tayla Dalton (6pts), Jade Kirisome (5pts) and Amy West (2pts, 2 assists) will be rueing a poor home performance.

Lauryn Mapusua’s 6 points helped Houston Christian (3-3) to a 71-52 success against Incarnate Word.

Other Women’s Scores:

Cal State Northridge (3-5) 60 (Rochelle Fourie 3 points, 2 rebounds) Hawaii 76

Southern Methodist (3-3) 65 (Ella Brow 2 points, 1reb, 3 assists, 2 steals) Wichita State 73

Texas Christian (0-6) 66 (Tara Manumaleuga 3 points) Oklahoma 93

New Mexico State (4-3) 62 (Ashlee Strawbridge 2pts, 3 rebounds, 2 steals) Grand Canyon 69

Jan 16 2023
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Breakers by Numbers

Numbers from Breakers Round 15 losses

It was a disappointing Round 15 of the NBL for the Sky Sport Breakers with three straight losses – two by a single possession scoreline!

Here are the numbers:

Tuesday @ Perth Wildcats Lost 93-90

Derek Pardon added 12 rebounds to a season high 28 points. His seventh double-double of the season moves him to 10th all-time on the Breakers Double-D list alongside Rich Melzer.

Thursday v Melbourne United in Christchurch Lost 77-65

Without the injured Barry Brown Jr the Breakers slipped to a ninth straight defeat to United and registered their lowest score of the season in losing 77-65. Not surprisingly the shooting percentage of 33% (21/63) was also the lowest of the campaign.

Jarrell Brantley, in scoring a team high 17 points, became the second Breaker after Brown Jr to score 300 points this season (average 14.7ppg).

With 7 assists Will McDowell-White became the 9th Breaker to dish 300 assists.

Sunday v Cairns Taipans at Spark Arena Lost 85-83

Jarrell Brantley had a massive double- double of 25 points and a season high 14 rebounds, whilst also claiming 5 steals. Glad I had him in my NBL Fantasy Team this week!

Will McDowell-White scored a career high 29 points (made 7 from 10 three-pointers), passing 500 points for the Breakers in the process. He’s the 27th player to score in excess of 500 points for the club.

Rob Loe played his 131st game for the club – now 10th all-time moving past Cedric Jackson and Aaron Olson who each played 130 games (Olson 130 consecutive games).

Tom Abercrombie pulled down his 440th offensive rebound to draw level with Dillon Boucher in that statistical category. The pair are now in joint third spot all-time for the Breakers behind Mika Vukona (933) and Alex Pledger (534).

Upcoming

The Breakers are back at Spark Arena on Thursday to take on Illawarra Hawks.

Jan 16 2023
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks, Tall Ferns

NCAA DI Weekend Wrap – 8 Kiwis in double figures

16 January

In NCAA Division I weekend action eighty Kiwis scored in double figures with Charlisse Leger-Walker, Olivia Williams and Helen Matthews leading the way.

Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 17 points to help secure Washington State (3-3) an 85-84 overtime win at Oregon. L-W, who added 7 rebounds, 6 assists and a block, moved past the 300 points mark for the season – 310 to be exact at 20.7ppg.

Olivia Williams top scored with 15 points (3/6 3PG) as Big West Conference leaders UC Irvine (4-0) defeated Rochelle Fourie’s California State Northridge 69-62.

Wofford (2-1) eked out a 55-51 win against UNC Greensboro with Helen Matthews scoring a team high equaling 15 points (6/9FG) to accompany 5 rebounds.

Ella Brow made 3 from 5 triples on her way to 14 points as Southern Methodist (3-2) won an overtime contest with East Carolina 68-66. The freshman also had a career high 8 assists to go with 6 rebounds a block and a steal.

Grace Hunter also scored 14 points in California State Bakersfield’s (1-5) 62-50 loss to UC San Diego.

Jade Kirisome scored 10 points as St Mary’s Gaels (3-3) pinched a 67-63 away win at neighbours San Francisco.

There were 9 points apiece for Kaylee Smiler and Arielle Mackey-Williams as BYU (5-2) defeated Pepperdine 63-52 for a fifth straight win.

Dani Bayes added 5 rebounds to 5 points as Boise State (2-2) went down 55-42 to San Diego State.

Unbeaten teams Portland (now 6-1) and Gonzaga met in a West Coast Conference heavyweight clash with the Zags getting the win 73-66. Emme Shearer scored 5 points for Portland.

Other Women’s Scores:

Fresno State (1-5) 71 (Amiee Book 4 points) Air Force 68

Virginia (3-4) 66 (McKenna Dale 2pts, 2rebs, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block) Boston College 50

Texas Christian (0-5) 70 (Tara Manumaleuga 2pts, 1 steal, 1 rebound) Oklahoma State 80

In Men’s NCAA Division I play Sam Mennenga’s 13 points – his 17th double digit outing in 18 games – couldn’t prevent Davidson (2-3) slipping to a third straight Atlantic 10 defeat going down 67-65 to George Mason.

Kruz Perrott-Hunt tallied 10 points but South Dakota (3-3) were well beaten by South Dakota State 

Nine of each – points and rebounds – for James Moors as Colorado State (2-4) won a thriller against Nevada, Las Vegas 82-81.

Tobias Cameron had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists as Abilene Christian (1-4) slipped up against Tarleton State going down 72-63.

Younger brother Flynn Cameron also tallied 9 points as UC Riverside (5-1) won 65-64 for a first win in 25 attempts at UC Santa Barbara. The young Tall Black flirted with a double-double as he also had 9 assists.

Eight points, 10 rebounds and a block for Callum McRae as Sacramento State (5-1) edged Northern Arizona 59-56.

Tafara Gapare scored 6 points and added a block, a steal and 4 rebounds as Massachusetts (2-3) beat Rhode Island 75-65.

Jan 14 2023
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College Hoops, Tall Blacks

NCAA DI mid-week roundup including career high’s for Smiler and Mennenga

January 13 

NB Bracketed figures are conference records (wins-losses)

In this NCAA Division I wrap we feature career high’s from Kaylee Smiler and Sam Mennenga plus a number of other strong performances most notably from Callum McRae, Grace Hunter and Dani Bayes.

Callum McRae was once again in double-double mode as Sacramento State (3-1) defeated Norther Colorado 72-64 with the senior centre tallying 15 points and 11 rebounds as well as dishing 7 assists. That’s 7 double-D’s already this season for McRae with four of them coming in the last five games.

Sam Mennenga pulled down a career high 16 rebounds as Davidson (2-3) slipped to a 61-57 home defeat at the hands of Richmond. Also scoring 11 points it was Mennenga’s third double-double of the season.

Abilene Christian (1-3) were defeated 103-86 by Texas Rio Grande despite 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals from Tobias Cameron.

Flynn Cameron had 6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal as UC Riverside (4-1) eased past UC San Diego 74-68 in Big West Conference action.

Making his first start of the season Tom Webley scored 9 points and also accumulated 5 rebounds, an assists and a steal in Hartford’s narrow 78-73 loss to St Francis Brooklyn.

Other Men’s Scores:

Colorado State (1-4) 74 (James Moors 4pts, 3rebs, 1 assist) Air Force 85 AOT

Fordham 58 (1-3) Zach Riley (3pts, 2 steals, 1 assist) Dayton 82

Marquette 82 (6-1) Ben Gold 3 points) v #6 Connecticut 76

Massachusetts (1-3) 77 (Tafara Gapare 2 points, 2 rebounds) La Salle 78 

In women’s Division I play Grace Hunter was a single point shy of her career best as Cal State Bakersfield (1-4) suffered an agonizing 63-62 defeat at UC Santa Barbara. The Wellingtonian guard scored 22 points (also tallying 6 assists and 5 rebounds) as Bakersfield gave up four points in the final 6 seconds to lose 63-62.

Dani Bayes top scored for Boise State with 16 points, making 4 from 6 3-pointers, but the Broncos (2-1) were beaten 71-50 by Colorado State. It was the eighth double figure outing for the freshman guard in her first 16 collegiate games.

New Mexico State (4-1), with Ashlee Strawbridge making a season best 13 points, comfortably beat Sam Houston 69-48. Strawbridge shot a very efficient 6 from 8 and also added a steal and 2 rebounds.

Kaylee Smiler and Arielle Mackey-Williams shared 20 points as BYU (4-2) comfortably defeated Loyola Marymount 63-46. Mackey-W scored 12 points while Smiler was beaming after a career high 8 assists and 8 points.

Tayla Dalton scored 10 points as St Mary’s (3-3) won 78-64 at Santa Clara. Playing a team high 34 minutes Dalton also had deuces in rebounds, assists and steals. Jade Kirisome had a trio each of points, rebounds and assists in the win.

Helen Matthews grabbed 5 rebounds to compliment 7 points as Wofford (1-1) came off second best against West Carolina going down 53-49.

Freshman starter Ella Brow caught the eye with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal as Southern Methodist (2-2) clawed the Cincinnati Bearcats 55-44.

Fresno State (1-4) went down 49-43 to San Diego State with Amiee Book making 5 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.

Other Women’s Scores

Texas Christian (0-4) 45 (Tara Manumaleuga 3pts, 2rebs, 1 assist, 1 steal) West Virginia 77

UC Irvine (4-0) 57 (Olivia Williams 2 points, 2rebs, 2 assists, 1 steal) Cal State Fullerton 39

Jan 09 2023
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Breakers by Numbers, NZ Breakers

Breakers two from two in Round 14

The Sky Sport Breakers maintained second spot on the ladder with a pair of hard earned victories in Round 14 of the NBL.

A 97-94 victory in New Plymouth on Wednesday night over the Perth Wildcats was followed by an equally tight 85-83 win in Adelaide – their third win of the season against the 36ers bolstering their overall record to 13-6.

The Breakers took the lead in the first quarter in Adelaide and led for the majority of the game thereafter but did have to withstand a late charge from the 36ers, who scored the last seven points of  the contest.

After missing the last two games with a broken finger the Breakers welcomed back Will McDowell-White to the line-up and he was his typical influential self with 10 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.

Also in double figures were Barry Brown Jr (16 points), Jarrell Brantley (15 points), Izayah Le’afa (13 points) and Derek Pardon (10 points).

McD-W’s return meant the Breakers had all 12 full roster players available for the first time this season at the 19thattempt.  

The win against Perth broke a sequence of five straight losses to the old enemy from out west. Once again the Breakers had to withstand another strong performance from former clubman Corey Webster who scored 19 points – he, Bryce Cotton and Brady Manek combined for 71 points.

Tai Webster, signed by the Wildcats a couple of day prior to the game, was suited up on the Wildcats bench but didn’t take the court. Unofficial reports indicating his release from the Breakers, who held his NBL playing rights, precluded him from playing against his former club.

The Breakers were once again paced by Brown Jr who scored 23 points.

Next Star Rayon Rupert made an eye catching return after missing the previous eight games with a wrist injury. The young Frenchman came off the bench to score 14 points in just 18 minutes of action.

Other notable performances came from Pardon (13 points), Brantley (11 points and 7 rebounds) and Le’afa 18 points (7/11FG).

But it was Brown that was the star turn for the hosts adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists to the 23 points that came on 10 from 18 shooting.

Brown Jr brought up his 300th point in 15 appearances. He’s the 49th Breaker to score 300 points for the club with only Carlos Powell (11 games), Kirk Penney and Mike Chappell (both 14 games) passing the mark quicker.

Other Numbers:

V Perth Wildcats

Tom Abercrombie’s blocked shot in the game against Perth was the 254th of his career drawing him level with Alex Pledger as the Breakers all-time leading “Blockers”.

There’s a slight difference in number of games played though – Pledge 238, Tom 381 !

V Adelaide 36ers

Will McDowell-White’s 7 assists sees him reach the 100 assists mark for the season at 5.9 per game. He now has 291 dimes for the Breakers in total – shortly to become just the 9th Breaker to dish 300 assists.

The victory in Adelaide was Rob Loe’s 59th in Breakers colours drawing him level with Gary Wilkinson as the 14thwinningest Breaker of all-time. 

Upcoming

The Breakers have a short turn around as they are in action again on Tuesday night, this time in Perth against the Wildcats. 

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