The Breakers looked set for the easiest of wins after opening up a point lead early in the final quarter of Saturday's match.
A stunning run from the Taipans got the margin back to seven points with two and a half minutes remaining, but NZ held their nerve at the death to ice the win. There was late drama when a faulty shot clock may have given NZ extra time during a crucial piece of play, and Cairns coach Adam Forde unleashed his frustrations towards the referee. But overall it was a deserved win for NZ, who were well led by Matthew Mooney 24 points, eight assists, three steals.
Mojave King 16 points , Tacko Fall 14 points, nine rebounds , Karim Lopez 11 points and Sam Mennenga 10 points, eight rebounds also played crucial roles for the Breakers. For the Taipans, Pedro Bradshaw finished with 5-of-8 shooting from long range on the way to 16 points, while Sam Waardenburg 16 points and Rob Edwards 14 points also chipped in. There were still some self-inflicted wounds though.
We missed a lot of foul shots. Tanner Groves got a tech, Rob got a tech. I was getting annoyed with the score bench - there were errors in that regards. The Breakers' hot shooting meant they reduced the margin to two points by quarter-time, and they took it up a notch in the second term to enter the half-time break with a advantage. NZ shot a remarkable 8-of from three-point range in the opening half, and went close to 90 per cent overall from the field.
Tensions briefly flared when Groves copped an accidental elbow to the face from cm Breakers centre Fall in the third quarter. The Breakers already had five players in double figures with several minutes remaining in the third term as their lead extended to 11 points. NZ finished the term strongly to take a advantage into the final break, and the lead ballooned to 21 points in the last quarter before Cairns launched a belated fightback.
