Americans Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Matt Mooney have paced NZ Breakers to their second straight nailbiting win to start the Australian NBL campaign, edging past South East Melbourne 91-89 at Auckland's Spark Arena.
The home side led by eight points, when forward Jonah Bolden converted from the three-point arc with three minutes on the clock, but as they did at Brisbane last week, the Breakers lost their poise in the final moments, threatening to let victory slip away.
Up four points with nine seconds remaining, they committed a five-second violation on an inbounds pass, giving their rivals a sniff. Forward Matt Hurt connected on a three-point bomb to close within a point with five seconds left, but when Jackson-Cartwright missed the second of two free throws, the Phoenix ran out of time to progress the ball upcourt to complete the comeback.
For the second week, they let a lead slip away, but survived. (Source: TVNZ)
Eight days earlier, the Breakers had seen a 26-point third-quarter lead slip away, before emerging with a four-point win over the Bullets. This contest — their first outing at home under new coach Petteri Koponen — was even closer.
They began the contest ice cold, shooting 1/11, as they fell 13-3 behind early. A rotation of personnel ignited their scoring touch, but the Phoenix scored the last five points of the quarter to retain a double-point advantage.
A pair of three-pointers from Mojave King brought the home team within four points early in the second period, before forward Sam Mennenga levelled the scores at 23-23 with a lefthanded layup in traffic, missing the chance to go ahead with the any-one free throw.
At halftime, South East Melbourne were still 36-33 up, with forward Hurt (12 points) leading all scorers. Jackson-Cartwright and King had six points each for the Breakers, who had shot just 30% (11/36) from the field.
The Breakers had their noses in front briefly in the third quarter, when Bolden hit from long distance, and had the lead into the final period, when Mooney also connected on a three. Limited to just a pair of free throws in the first half, the American guard came alive with 13 points in the second, including three from afar.
Jackson-Cartwright's speed in the paint helped boost the margin to eight, before the dramatic final seconds unfolded.
The Auckland club takes a break from its ANBL schedule, as they head to the United States for a three-game series against NBA teams Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Their next competition outing pits them against Brisbane Bullets again on October 17.
NZ Breaker 91 (Jackson-Cartwright 19, Mooney 15, Mennenga 11) South East Melbourne Phoenix 89 (Sobey 24, Hurt 20, Hunter 12)
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