36ers show late fight, but fall to Breakers

Adelaide 36ers fought back late but have ran into a red-hot New Zealand Breakers in a 96-83 loss at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch on Thursday night.

The Breakers connected on 15 three-pointers as the home side survived a late rally from the 36ers to take the 13-point win.

Anthony Lamb scored a game-high 24 points to go with six rebounds and six assists for New Zealand, while Parker Jackson Cartwright added 21 points with nine assists and six rebounds.

DJ Vasiljevic scored a team-high 14 points for Adelaide, Mitch McCarron added 11 points with four rebounds and Jacob Wiley hauled in 12 rebounds to go with 10 points.

The 36ers missed their first four shots as the Breakers opened an early 9-0 lead before Mitch McCarron connected on a three-pointer for Adelaide’s first field goal after four minutes.

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Isaac Humphries (10 points, four rebounds) again became a focus inside, his three-point play reducing the margin to 15-9, but the Breakers continued to stay hot.

Izayah Le’afa (21 points) hitting three from beyond the arc without a miss as New Zealand took a 37-17 lead into quarter time.

Adelaide picked up the defensive intensity in the second quarter as Vasiljevic started to get into the game.

Vasiljevic scored on a tough drive, then connected from downtown as the 36ers fought back into the contest, when Wiley scored off an offensive rebound, the Breakers lead was cut to 44-32.

Le’afa hit his fourth three-pointer and Jackson-Cartwright scored at the rim as the Breakers regained control, but Adelaide fought back late as New Zealand took a 53-41 lead into the main break.

Breakers head coach Mody Maor was ejected during the interval, Vasiljevic connected on the free throw and Humphries scored inside to cut the margin to single digits.

Le’afa’s hot night continued, swishing two more triples, then Lamb hit a three-pointer as the home side regained momentum, the former Golden State Warrior continued to score as the Breakers went into the final 10 minutes with a 77-60 advantage.

Adelaide started the final quarter on an 8-0 run after Sunday Dech (10 points) hit a triple, then Alex Starling found a put back before Dech hit another three-pointer.

Starling (five points, four rebounds) gave the 36ers some great spark off the bench, but Jackson-Cartwright looked to take over at both ends of the floor.

Lamb found another three-pointer of an offensive rebound, and when Le’afa again connected from downtown, the Breakers went on a late 8-0 run to finish the game.

Adelaide will now travel to Hobart to face Tasmania JackJumpers at MyState Bank Arena on Saturday night.

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 96 (Lamb 24, Le’afa 21, Jackson-Cartwright 21) def ADELAIDE 36ERS 83 (Vasiljevic 14, McCarron 11, Wiley 10, Dech 10, Humphries 10) at Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch.     

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