NBL, Round 17 news, results, scores: Breakers triumph in face of Jekyll and Hyde JackJumpers
You’d be hard-pressed finding a more Jekyll-and-Hyde first half than that produced by the JackJumpers, who were stunned by a Breakers side who welcomed back a superstar.
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A historic quarter to quarter scoring reversal couldn’t prevent the JackJumpers squandering a golden chance to shore up a top six spot in Thursday’s 85-75 road loss to New Zealand.
Led by a superb game from big man Sam Mennenga, who scored 21 of his career high 29 points in the second half, the Breakers secured just their fourth win in their past 16 games.
The JackJumpers scored only eight points in the first quarter, the lowest scoring term in club history, to trail 19-8, and also committed eight turnovers.
Incredibly they backed it up with a club-high 37 points in the second quarter, led by 17 from guard Jordon Crawford (26 points), and didn’t turn the ball over once to take a 45-39 half-time advantage.
But injuries forced Tasmania to field a small line up, and it eventually told late in the piece with Mennenga (13-15 FG, 3-4 three pointers, nine rebounds) dominating in the second half. He was ably assisted by Tacko Fall (11 points) in the third term, while youngster Karim Lopez (17 points) also showed his class.
Tasmania led by ten points early in the second half but their offense dried up markedly again to fall to 12-12 for the season.
The JackJumpers were desperate to bounce back from Sunday’s 105-73 loss to Perth, their biggest home defeat in history.
After a sloppy start they looked to have steadied the ship in the second term, but their patchy scoring again cost them dearly.
LACK OF HEIGHT COSTLY
Tasmania fielded one of the smallest line-ups the NBL has seen in the absence of key bigs Will Magnay and Majok Deng, both out through injury.
They did an admirable job on the glass, losing rebound count narrowly 35-33, with veteran Fabijan Krslovic (14 points, six rebounds, four assists) battling manfully.
But the Breakers’ size down the stretch proved too much to contain.
HISTORIC MOMENTUM SWING
You could have been forgiven for thinking the JackJumpers’ first and second quarters were played by two different teams.
The first quarter (eight points) was their lowest scoring in club history, and the second (37) their highest scoring in one of the more insane statistics in recent NBL memory.
However it was a second half fadeout against the ninth-placed Breakers they could ill-afford as they look to hold off the chasing pack and hold onto a top six spot in their title defence.
Sixth-placed Tasmania only narrowly scored more points in the other three quarters combined than their second quarter blitz (38-37).
They missed a huge chance to build a sizeable gap from seventh-placed Adelaide (10-12) and eighth-placed Brisbane (10-13) before two more road games against Sydney on Sunday and South East Melbourne next Saturday.
Originally published as NBL, Round 17 news, results, scores: Breakers triumph in face of Jekyll and Hyde JackJumpers
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