Breakers Strike for Third Straight

Win the hustle areas and usually good things will happen and that was exactly the story for the New Zealand Breakers as they blew the Illawarra Hawks away in the first half on the way to an 88-62 victory.

The Breakers were already feeling good coming off winning consecutive games for the first time since midway through the 2021 season, and brought that confidence, momentum and intensity with them to the WIN Entertainment Centre on Monday night.

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What New Zealand did especially in the first half to set up an eventual 24-point lead was set up with some stifling defence which the Hawks had no answer for. 

Then up the other end, the Breakers crashed the offensive glass and on the way to the 21-point half-time edge they had 10 second chance points and 12 points off turnovers.

The Hawks were always going to make a run in the second half on their home floor but they couldn’t get closer than 11 points with New Zealand answering every challenge to go on another 12-0 run late to end up winning by 26.

It's the first time the Breakers have won three straight games since ending the 2019/20 season winning four in-a-row while the first time they've won two straight in Australia since April 2021.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">How to be a modern big - a play by Rob Loe ?<br><br>Tip the pass ?<br>Run the floor ?<br>SLAM it home ?<br><br>Lovely work from the <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> big man.<br><br>Catch the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel <a href="https://t.co/PAcT8SzctV">pic.twitter.com/PAcT8SzctV</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1581933668242984960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

New Zealand finished the night with 53 rebounds to 36 including 17 offensively to 11 while scoring 15 second chance points and 21 points off Illawarra's 14 turnovers.

It was a tremendous team performance from the Breakers too with Will McDowell-White top-scoring with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.

Cam Gliddon hit four triples for 12 points while Rayan Rupert finished with 11 points and four rebounds, Jarrell Brantley 10 points and three boards, Tom Vodanovich 10 points, four rebounds and three assists, and Rob Loe 10 points, eight boards and three steals.

Breakers coach Mody Maor was especially delighted with the defensive mindset of his group.

"(What I liked most) was the defensive effort and how hard we were on the defensive side," Maor said.

"This has to be our foundation and where this team starts, and we held Illawarra to 60 points so that's a good place to be.

"Our guys have bought into us being a defensive first team and we have a phenomenal group of players who really care about winning, and are willing to put their hearts on the line and compete in every moment in the game. This is the foundation for everything we are doing."

Meanwhile for the Hawks who suffered their fourth loss in five games to open NBL23, it was a rough night shooting 37 per cent from the floor with 6/21 from downtown.

Tyler Harvey had 12 points but also four turnovers and shot 5/16 while Lachie Dent finished with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, and George King nine points and eight boards.

Hawks coach Jacob Jackomas is searching for answers about the players he can turn to and turn the tide when things aren’t working.

"I thought when we made subs it went a little bit downhill," Jackomas said.

"The bench has been pretty good when they've come in and have created energy, but the biggest thing that's concerning me right now is that it's hard to get a scope on who's going to do well in the game. 

"I'm struggling to work out where I can go and who I can go to who's a consistent piece. Maybe I need to be a little bit smarter and then the guys have to show me a little bit more so I'm not just putting it on them. But we need to figure out where we go when we get into little slumps like that."

Fresh off their first win in Australia in their last 12 attempts, New Zealand arrived in Wollongong full of confidence but the Hawks were looking to bounce back and started well to lead 6-3 early.

Lachie Dent then knocked down a couple of shots to keep the home team on top before New Zealand took over and it was 18-year-old Next Star Rayan Rupert leading the charge. 

He sparked a 12-3 run for the Breakers with a couple of nice finishes while the visitors shot 10/20 from the field as a team and outside of Dent going 3/3, Illawarra struggled to go 4/12 with New Zealand on top 21-16 after one.

The Breakers were relentless in their crashing of the glass and defensive intensity, and the Hawks scored just four points in the first eight and-a-half minutes of the second quarter.

Up the other end, New Zealand found some offensive groove too including a couple of open triples from Tom Vodanovich and a 12-0 run that saw the lead get out to 44-20.

Things got worse for the Hawks with two missed free-throws from Mangok Mathiang before Deng Deng missed a dunk on the alley-oop from Tyler Harvey. Eventually they did break their drought and Davo Hickey gave a spark with a steal and breakaway dunk.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">???? ???? ?<br><br>It&#39;s been a tough second quarter for the <a href="https://twitter.com/illawarrahawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@illawarrahawks</a>, but Will Hickey finishes it in style ?<br><br>Catch the second half of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/2ygSTfIteb">pic.twitter.com/2ygSTfIteb</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1581937862895104001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It was all the Breakers, though, who led 47-26 at the break.

The Hawks did hit the first four points of the second half thanks to George King but every time Illawarra threatened a comeback, New Zealand would answer.

Jarrell Brantley answered that run with a three and then even after the Hawks had their best patch of the game scoring 11 straight points, Cam Gliddon drained back-to-back three balls for the Breakers.

The Hawks were warming to the challenge, though, and hit the last six points of the third quarter to be within 11 going into the fourth.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Late fitness test? No worries for Cam Gliddon ?<br><br>The <a href="https://twitter.com/NZBreakers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZBreakers</a> hasn&#39;t missed a beat after returning from his injury cloud ?<br><br>Catch the final quarter of tonight&#39;s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL23?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL23</a> action live on ESPN via Kayo Sports and Foxtel. <a href="https://t.co/PfXe3Ff03t">pic.twitter.com/PfXe3Ff03t</a></p>&mdash; The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1581945332497518592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 17, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

New Zealand came out and hit the first seven points of the fourth period, though, to ensure there would be no Hawks fightback with the Breakers rolling to the third straight win.

The Breakers now have a short turnaround before hosting the South East Melbourne Phoenix on Thursday at Auckland's Trusts Arena. The Hawks have a week before hitting the court again also at home next Monday to the Brisbane Bullets.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 3

ILLAWARRA HAWKS 62 (Harvey 12, Dent 9, King 9)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 88 (McDowell-White 17, Gliddon 12, Rupert 11) 

BOX SCORE