The NZ Breakers have suffered another high-scoring Australian National Basketball League (ANBL) preseason loss.
The Breakers let a double-digit fourth-quarter lead slip in a 108-102 defeat to the Perth Wildcats in their first of three games at the ANBL Blitz tournament at Gold Coast's Carrara Stadium on Sunday.
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Petteri Koponen's squad led 80-67 entering the fourth quarter but were outscored 41-22 down the stretch, following on from a 120-76 loss to the Sydney Kings in their preseason opener on August 31.
Guards Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Mitch McCarron impressed against the Wildcats, both among the five players to score in double figures.
American import Jackson-Cartwright scored a team-high 21 points (8/14 FG, 4/5 FT) and five rebounds, and McCarron put up 17 points (5/5 FG, 3/3 3pt, 4/4 FT). NZ-born guard Mojave King had 14 points (4/9 FG, 5/6 FT) and three boards.
Kiwi centre Sam Mennenga finished with 10 points (3/4 FG, 2/3 3pt) and Australian big Grant Anticevich 10 points (4/8 FG, 2/4 3pt).
Other imports Matt Mooney had seven points, five assists and two steals, Freddy Gillespie six points and two blocks, and Mexican 'Next Star' Karim Lopez seven points.
The Breakers had no answer for Bryce Cotton, who scored a game-high 32 points, and Keanu Pinder, who finished with 25 points, especially in the fourth quarter.
After Cats head coach John Rillie had been ejected early in the fourth and still trailing by 11 with five minutes remaining, Perth went on a 20-3 run, eventually scoring 26 of the game's final 37 points.
For the Wildcats, former Breakers guard Tai Webster put up seven points and Tall Blacks forward Hyrum Harris seven points and five assists.
The Breakers play again on Wednesday (tip-off 7pm NZT) against the Adelaide 36ers, finishing on the Gold Coast on Friday against the Kings (tip-off 9.30pm NZT).
Another former Breakers guard, Izayah Le'afa, was the most impressive of the other Kiwis and Tall Blacks on the first two nights of the ANBL Blitz.
Le'afa put up 21 points (7/11 FG, 7/10 3pt), four rebounds, four assists and three steals on Sunday in the Kings' 99-77 win over the Cairns Taipans, who got four points and four boards from Kiwi forward Sam Waardenburg.
Rob Loe recorded a double-double, with 12 points (5/10 FG) and 12 rebounds, while Shea Ili had 10 points (4/7 FG) and five assists, and Flynn Cameron three boards and two steals in Melbourne United's 94-87 win over the Taipans on Saturday. Waardenburg managed eight points and two steals.
Tyrrell Harrison contributed 15 points (4/6 FG, 7/7 FT) and four rebounds, and Tohi Smith-Milner nine points and three boards in the Brisbane Bullets' 89-76 win over the Tasmania JackJumpers on Saturday.
Reuben Te Rangi had seven points and Walter Brown six points in the loss, while Brown finished with eight points and eight boards and Te Rangi seven points, four rebounds and three assists in a 96-64 loss to the 36ers on Sunday.
Tom Vodanovich came off the bench for five points and three boards in the South East Melbourne Phoenix's 112-93 loss to the Illawarra Hawks on Saturday.
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