30 Jan 2009

Nerves down the stretch as top two finish looks beyond Breakers

9:17 am on 30 January 2009

The New Zealand Breakers' seven-point home loss to the Australian basketball league leaders, South Dragons, on Thursday night has all but scuttled their chances of a home playoff series.

And the 101 to 94 point defeat in Auckland, their sixth loss in seven games, has the mid-season leaders looking over their shoulders at the chasing pack rather than ahead to a championship.

Just one win now separates the Breakers from fourth-placed Perth and fifth-placed Townsville with four games to go.

Despite reeling in a deficit that was 20 points before halftime and 19 at the buzzer for the major interval, the Breakers couldn't capitalise on a good late surge.

The Dragons showed why they're battling cross-city rivals Melbourne for regular season glory with a stingy defence and constant hustle.

Kirk Penney came alive late in the third quarter and made 17 points but the closest the home side came was within five points several times in the fourth quarter.

Phill Jones scored a game-high 28 points.