A last-minute injury to CJ Bruton helped the Adelaide 36ers overturn a 38-point deficit last night from their previous Australian National Basketball League match against the New Zealand Breakers.
Already without Phill Jones, who was serving a one-match suspension, the Breakers lost Bruton minutes before tip-off of yesterday's match in Auckland.
The loss of two guards meant the Breakers' inexperienced youngsters Thomas Abercrombie and Corey Webster got some serious game time but the Breakers' depth did not prove enough.
They still gave the 36ers a tough game and were tied with three minutes to play before eight unanswered points ensured the visitors won 96-86.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis was disappointed but philosophical about the loss.
"No loss is a good loss but we don't have to hang our heads about tonight's result," Lemanis said after the game.
"The boys responded well and we had our opportunities to win the game but they landed some tough shots at the end and we missed some."
Lemanis said Bruton only noticed the back spasms in the minutes leading up to the match.
He said it was unclear how serious the injury was but he hoped to have him back for tomorrow's match against the Melbourne Tigers.
Adelaide coach Scott Ninnis said he was pleased the way his team played given that they lost 118-80 when the teams played in Auckland a month ago.
He said Bruton's injury was clearly a factor but that his team also had its share of injuries.
"CJ is probably the best player in the competition in his position (point guard), so to lose him so close to the start is tough," Ninns said.
"But every team will have injury problems as the competition goes on and we were without Brad Davidson and Brett Maher tonight."
The Breakers were let down by allowing the 36ers to go on several major pointscoring sprees. They allowed the visitors a 10-0 first quarter run, a 12-0 second quarter and third quarter run and the vital eight point run with three minutes to go.
Until then the match had been close, with no more than one point separating the teams at the end of the first three quarters.
For once it was the offence which let the Breakers down. Kirk Penney scored a game-high 24 points, Tony Ronaldson 23 and Rick Rickert 18, but there was little support for them.
The 36ers' imports Adam Ballinger and Mark Tyndale both got over 20 points, while the improving centre Luke Schensher also scored 20.
Unusually the guards Penney and Tyndale led the way for their teams in rebounds.
The Breakers now have three away games in 10 days, starting with the Melbourne Tigers tomorrow prior to facing the Cairns Taipans and Townsville Crocodiles the following week.
Their next home match is against the table-topping South Dragons in two weeks.
