21 Nov 2009

Breakers beat the Crocs in Townsville

8:34 am on 21 November 2009

The New Zealand Breakers have broken their duck on the road in the Australian basketball league, beating the Crocodiles in Townsville by 85 points to 73.

It was a happy homecoming for new Breakers signing John Rillie, the former Crocs captain notching eight points on his return to his old club.

The home side blew a 16-point lead midway through the first quarter, allowing the Breakers to level the scores at 37-37 at half-time then surge ahead, largely on the back of guard CJ Bruton's three-point shooting.

Bruton topped the charts with 24 points and the most minutes, while forwards Oscar Forman and Rick Rickert knocked down 18 and 12 points respectively.

Veteran Paul Henare provided four assists and scored two points in his 200th ANBL game.

The result sees the Breakers move up to fourth place and go six and six for the season but crucially they've finally bagged that first elusive win on the road.