South East Melbourne Phoenix stormed home to finish second in NBL Cup competition after a 103-89 win over the New Zealand Breakers.
The Phoenix won all four quarters at the John Cain Arena on Sunday to take a third win in five days and rise above the Brisbane Bullets and Melbourne United. Second in the Perth Wildcats, he raised $ 100,000 in prize money.
Kyle Adnam burned against the Breakers. Photo by Daniel Pockett / Getty Images
Mitch Creek and Kyle Adnam each scored 21 points and Ben Moore made eight of his nine shots to end at 17, while Ryan Broekhoff played nine minutes in his second NBL appearance before suffering from pain in his Achilles tendon for most of the second half had to suspend.
Coach Simon Mitchell stressed that the final placement of his squad at the NBL Cup table was not his main focus against New Zealand as he also rose to fourth on the NBL ladder with a 9-7 record.
“We want to build, we sometimes struggle with our consistency during the games,” said Mitchell after the Phoenix won a third game in a row for the first time since their 3-0 start in their 2019 debut season.
Breakers coach Dan Shamir felt that his side benefited from living in the NBL hub despite some major injuries and losses in three of the last four competitions.
“The schedule was tough for us, missing a few players and three games in five days obviously showed a little,” said Shamir.
New Zealander Finn Delany backed the career with 30 points on Friday with 24 points and six rebounds, and Tom Abercrombie added 21.
Despite five turnovers that resulted in nine Breakers points, the Phoenix looked strong early on when they bonded on five of their first six three-point attempts.
Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa continued his latest hot form as he drew two offensive fouls from New Zealand danger man Tai Webster and added a pair of threes at his side’s 29:23 start.
Moore showed his skillful touch and shrewd defensive play in the second term as Phoenix’s lead rose to eleven just before half-time.
A sloppy finish to the second quarter cost the Phoenix nearly a valuable NBL Cup point, but Reuben Te Rangi took one of two free throws to close the half by a 53:46 advantage.
The Phoenix won the third quarter 25:19 to achieve a top 3 result in the NBL Cup.
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