Breakers notch crucial win after Cairns coach ejected
Chris Pike |
The New Zealand Breakers have kept their NBL season alive, beating Cairns 104-86 at HoopsFest in Perth after Taipans coach Adam Forde was ejected from the game.
Forde has been left fuming and baffled all season long about the lack of calls point guard Andrew Andrews has been receiving.
That all spilled over midway through the second quarter at RAC Arena on Saturday with a no-call when Andrews took a hit to his head.
Forde let his feelings be known to the officials and was sent packing in his home town.
His Taipans kept on fighting, but the Breakers had too much to play for, and with Sam Mennenga dominant with 28 points and five rebounds, they scored a second straight win to stay in touch with the top six.
The Breakers started strongly to lead 26-21 with 12 first-quarter points from Mennenga, and while Andrews kept the Snakes close with his nine, it was a different story in the second quarter.
Cairns put up 30 points, including 13 each from Admiral Schofield and Mojave King.
The Breakers led 55-51 at halftime, before pushing out to a double-figure lead in the third term with nine straight points, which set them on the path to their 18-point win.
New Zealand (10-15) will now attempt to chase down the sixth-placed Tasmania JackJumpers (12-13).
Izaiah Brockington scored 24 points, Parker Jackson-Cartwright contributed 17 points, 10 assists and five steals, and Next Star Karim Lopez 16 points and 11 rebounds.
The Taipans (7-18) couldn’t make it three straight wins for the first time this season, with assistant Will Lopez taking over coaching responsibilities from Forde for the last two-and-a-half quarters.
Schofield and King both scored 19 points for Cairns, but only managed a combined 12 outside of the second quarter.
Andrews ended up with 15 points and five assists, with Jack McVeigh having 13 points but on 4-of-13 shooting and unable to replicate his 47-point heroics the last time against New Zealand.
AAP
