Undermanned Breakers Undone By United

5 December, 2024

An under-strength BNZ Breakers side has been out-muscled 97-70 by Melbourne United in Christchurch on Thursday night.

With Jonah Bolden, Tacko Fall and Dane Pineau all ruled out through injury, the Breakers were forced to slot players into different positions to try and fill gaps in the rotation.

The hosts put together a solid first half and were just three points behind at the break, but were undone by a sloppy third quarter which saw them unable to get shots to drop.

Costly errors and turnovers throughout the second half allowed Melbourne to keep building on their lead as the Breakers struggled to respond.

Sam Mennenga hung tough with 17 points and four rebounds, while Matt Mooney and Parker Jackson-Cartwright added 17 and 14 points respectively.

Max Darling scored 12 points off the bench along with six rebounds and two blocks, signalling his return to form after coming back from a groin injury.

Head coach Petteri Koponen said he was pleased with the opening 20 minutes but the second half exposed some areas to be fixed.

“We had a better start tonight and I think we were solid in the first half. In the third quarter we were a bit unfocussed, missed some shots, made some bad decisions and ran out of gas,” he said.

“We are hitting some adversity with injuries and guys coming back into the side trying to feel their way, but the most important thing for me moving forward is we need to play as a team and enjoy playing together.

“Everything is easy when your winning, but when you are losing you need to stick together and show character - that’s what we need to focus on.

“There’s no time to wait with another game against a tough team on Saturday so we need to recover and go back out there and fight.”

The BNZ Breakers (7-6) have just one day to recover before hosting the Sydney Kings in Wellington on Saturday at 7.30pm.

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