AUCKLAND (NBL) - Some CJ Bruton magic has secured a remarkable 99-91 overtime victory for the New Zealand Breakers over the Adelaide 36ers in round 6 of Oceania’s NBL.

After enduring a poor shooting night, Australia’s starting point guard took the ball the length of the court with 5 seconds remaining and nailed a long range triple over two defenders to bring the Auckland crowd to fever pitch and force the game into overtime. From there Bruton would score 7 more points as the Breakers won the extra period 15-7.

Bruton finished with 27 points (8/21 fg), 8 assists and 3 steals to lead the Breakers to a 4-3 record and third place on the NBL ladder, despite having been without star FIBA World Championship shooting guard Kirk Penney for most of the season.

Emerging New Zealand international Tom Abercrombie had the best game of his short career, collecting 20 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, while Breaker Rick Rickert continued his resurgent form with 16 points and 10 rebounds, pressing his claim for selection as a naturalised player for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

For Adelaide, import John Gilchrist answered questions about his position with an excellent 26 point, 9 rebound, 4 assist, 4 steal display. He received great support from former Australian junior international Brad Hill (15 points, 6/10 fg), who is also quietly making a claim for a trip to Turkey next August.

Two nights later and it was Gilchrist’s turn to be a game winner, connecting on a last second put-back to send Adelaide’s home encounter with the Cairns Taipans into overtime. Adelaide, with 5500 spectators behind them, had all the answers in the extra five minutes, running out 87-81 winners.

Gilchrist recorded 22 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists to complete a super week, and was well supported by newly naturalised Aussie Adam Ballinger (24 points) and Jacob Holmes (16 points, 8 rebounds).

While Dusty Rychart (19 points, 10 rebounds) and New Zealand international superstar Phill Jones (15 points, 7 assists) had solid outings, the result capped off a bad week for Cairns, who were outscored 22-17 in the last quarter by the Wollongong Hawks to fall 77-67 three nights earlier.

Jones, who is believed to be considering coming out of international retirement for next year’s FIBA World Championship, could manage just 9 points on 3/10 shooting. Experienced import Rich Melzer (11 points, 3/14 fg) and Rychart (9 points) also struggled for the Taipans, who are last in the NBL’s scoring charts with just 75 ppg.

In contrast, the Hawks have been the surprise packet of the competition, and once again it was the inside-out duo of new import Ty McKee (19 points, 7 assists) and 209cm centre Larry Davidson (14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks) leading the way. Dual Olympian Glen Saville (10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) was his usual, productive self.

Wollongong then faced their biggest hurdle of the season later in the round against the in-form Wildcats in Perth, and stumbled 87-80.

Impressive new import Kevin Lisch (16 points) and ever-dependable Olympian Shawn Redhage (12 points, 9 rebounds) were the Wildcats best, with support from fringe Australian national team members Luke Schenscher (14 points, 8 rebounds) and Damian Martin (11 points).

McKee (19 points, 6 rebounds) and Davidson (17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) kept Wollongong in the contest, but the Wildcats execution and ferocious home crowd proved too much in the end, especially for McKee who shot 1/7 from the free throw line.

In other games, the Melbourne Tigers defeated the Gold Coast Blaze at home on Wednesday night, 94-88, thanks to Australian junior representative Daniel Johnson, who made the paint his own on the way to a career best 20 points (9/15 fg) and 6 boards.

Stankovic Cup MVP James Harvey led the Blaze with 23 points, including 9 points in 2 ½ minutes to almost steal the game in the fourth quarter.

In Townsville two nights later the Tigers couldn’t repeat the dose, however, with inconsistent Crocs import Corey Williams turning it on for his home fans with 29 points and 7 assists to secure the 94-87 win for Townsville.

2006 FIBA World Championship reserve Russell Hinder collected 16 points and 10 rebounds for Townsville, while for Melbourne former Australian captain Sam Mackinnon had 16 points and 6 boards.

Olympic and FIBA World Championship veteran Mark Worthington – a lock for Turkey next year - had a night to forget after a strong start to the season, recording 11 points on 4/18 shooting.

Game of the round for week 7 sees Perth hosting New Zealand. These two teams were the pre-season championship favourites, and with both finding impressive form and with 14 senior internationals on both teams’ rosters it is sure to be a high quality affair.

Paulo Kennedy
FIBA