The New Zealand Breakers have gone two wins clear at the top of the ANBL basketball ladder after a hard-fought 82-74 victory over the Wollongong Hawks in Auckland.
The home side put the clamps on former Breaker Oscar Forman, who had got a career-high 29 points against them when the struggling Hawks pulled of a 80-64 upset in Wollongong last Saturday.
Forman managed only five points on his return to the North Shore Events Centre, the first of them not until well into the fourth quarter.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis says a number of things improved for his side from last weekends defeat.
Breakers forward Tom Abercrombie led all scorers with 25 points, including 12 in a decisive final quarter, when the home side finally pulled clear.
Lemanis says he expected Abercrombie to stamp his mark when needed.
Second-placed Perth can cut that gap on the Breakers to one game when they host Sydney on Sunday.
