Seventeen-year-old Junior Tall Black Jackson Ball retained his place in the Illawarra Hawks starting lineup but it was Breakers Mexican teenager López that made his mark early on as the visitors forged a 10-2 lead.
Brockington made it a 24-11 lead and with Jackson-Cartwright scoring five points late in the period. The BNZ Breakers had their highest first quarter score of the season and a 31-18 advantage.
Despite the Hawks centre McGee achieving 13 first half points, the Breakers continued to build their lead, which stretched to 19 points and was still at 18 points (52-34) at the interval. Mennenga led the first half effort with 14 points, on five from eight shooting, with Brockington also in double figures with 10 points although the key to the Breakers success was holding the free scoring Hawks to their lowest opening half points total this season.
The BNZ Breakers had given up a big first half lead (18 points) in the previous game against the Brisbane Bullets causing fans to worry – but this time were in no mood to let their guard down.
A pair of Baker triples stretched the lead to 25 points although the BNZ Breakers immediately lost López with a cut above the eye after a head clash with Mason Peatling.
The loss of their NBL Next Star didn’t slow the Breakers’ progress – a transition dunk from Davison made it a 30-point game and a dominant 27-10 quarter meant the Breakers were cruising at the three-quarter mark with a 79-44 lead.
Surprisingly, López, with his head swathed in bandage, returned at the start of the fourth and easily converted a left-hand layup. He added a corner three pointer to become the sixth Breaker into double figures.
Breakers coach Petteri Koponen gave extended time to his bench players in the closing minutes, with Max Darling draining a pair of threes to cap off an emphatic victory.
The BNZ Breakers are next in action on Thursday November 6 at Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch when they take on Bryce Cotton and the Adelaide 36ers. The fixture will mark the 700th NBL game the Breakers have played since the club’s debut appearance in October 2003.
Result:
BNZ Breakers 102– Mennenga 21pts & 11rebs, Baker 19pts, López 14pts & 8rebs, Brockington 12pts, Jackson-Cartwright 11pts, Davison 10pts
Illawarra Hawks 60 – McGee 13pts & 10rebs, Harvey 11pts
