A dominant display from Breakers big man Shawn Long has seen his side beat the Illawarra Hawks 96-79 in Hamilton.
Long, 25 scored a season-high 26 points and collected 13 rebounds in the match.
The home side showed tough defence, restricting the Hawks to just 32 points in the first half.
The Breakers went to the break with a 14 point buffer, leading 46-32.
The Hawks started the second half the better side, cutting the lead to eight midway through the third quarter.
But the Breakers found another gear in front of a vocal Claudelands Arena crowd to lead after three quarters by 14 points.
Although it was a bad shooting night for the Breakers, only shooting 29 per cent from the three point line. Long made a big impact inside the paint as the home side shot 53 per cent from two-point range.
The Breakers were too good in the fourth quarter as they cruised to a win to improve to six wins and eight losses on the year.
The Breakers will enjoy a break over the Christmas period before travelling to Adelaide where they will play the 36ers on December 30 (NZT).
Newshub.
