"That can never happen again": Breakers bemoan brutal fadeout

Sam Mennenga exploded in the first half and again found himself locked in a fascinating battle with Tall Blacks teammate Tyrell Harrison, but ultimately, the only thing that mattered was the result.

The New Zealand Breakers’ second-half collapse left Mennenga labelling their performance as “unacceptable.”

The 23-year-old was unstoppable early, piling on 25 first-half points as the Breakers stormed to a 57–39 half-time lead, while shooting 49 per cent and taking 13 more shots than Brisbane. But in a stunning reversal, New Zealand managed just 26 points after the break, hitting only one of 17 attempts from three-point range, as the Bullets surged with 45 points to steal a one-point win.

It was a bitter blow for the now 2–7 Breakers, who led by as much as 24 and had 24 more shot attempts, only to fall apart late. They’ll have more than a week to stew on the defeat before facing Illawarra next Friday.

Mennenga didn’t mince his words in summing up the loss.

"In the first half we were flowing, the ball's moving and we're playing with pace and are connected on the defensive end, and that rhythm is easy to play off and feed off," Mennenga said.

"Then we lost some of that in the second half and our backs go against the wall, and we feel that pressure and I think we did a very poor job of managing possessions.

"We were up by 15 or so and we don't need to be taking early shots, and that's a discipline factor, myself included.

"And on that defensive end I don’t think we were connected like we were in the first half and that connection was lost, and we were letting guys get loose and to the rim.

"It was a tale of two halves and I think that second half was completely unacceptable, and if we want to be professional basketball players and compete to win championships, that can never happen again."

Mennenga managed just five shots in the second half for two points, finishing with 27 overall along with six rebounds, four assists and two steals in what became an intriguing duel with his Tall Blacks teammate, Harrison.

The Breakers forward admitted he relishes those matchups with Harrison, describing them as fierce on the floor, but built on mutual respect once the final buzzer sounds.

"I love it and he's one of my really close mates, and we both know what it is when we match up and it's complete war," Mennenga said.

"We have two very different styles of basketball so I think that clash makes it very interesting, and we try to expose each other but there's always a battle and the utmost respect for each other when we play."