Milton Keynes Breakers picked up their fifth successive win this weekend and climbed to third in the NBL 1 Table in the process as they overcame Loughborough Riders 90-82.
Adrian Scarborough led the scoring for the Breakers with 25 points, with the American also picking up 12 rebounds during the win. Jordan Spencer showed all abilities of his game with 15 points,13 assists and 9 rebounds, with Nate Robinson also picking up 15 points during the win.
The Breakers have now picked up wins over second and third in the table respectively, and will now host first placed Hemel Storm next weekend completing an incredibly testing three week period for Billy Beddow-Patel’s side.
The two sides came out of the gates flying as they exchanged blows with each possession and the lead changing hands eight times in the opening seven minutes. The Breakers would find a way to stop the Riders offence with a 9-0 run with four different players scoring points to start to establish a gap between the two sides, Joiner would break that run with his free throws, but Kai Walker and Blayne Freckleton’s three point dagger would give the Breakers a 25-15 lead after the first quarter.
The break in play looked to have halted the early blows with just two buckets scored in the opening two minutes, but both sides soon found their feet. The Riders were determined to eat into the Breakers advantage, but KJ Johnson ensured the gap remained at double digits before Adrian Scarborough pushed the lead to 13-points for the Breakers. The lead stayed at 10-points at the break as Joiner’s late layup reduced the lead with the Breakers leading 42-32 at the break.
The early stages of the third quarter saw the Breakers further extend their lead as KJ Johnson and Jordan Spencer combined to see the Breakers lead to 16-points, before Nate Robinson made that gap 18. The Riders, however, continued to display their class and went on a 7-0 run to pull themselves to within 11 points of the Breakers. They would then go on an 8-0 run as they looked to overturn the gap as they climbed to within five points of the lead.
Blayne Freckleton, however, had other ideas as he sank back-to-back three pointers to see the Breakers restore their double-digit lead and deal the Riders a huge blow in their comeback. Adrian Scarborough closed out the third as his layup pushed the Breakers lead to 12-points all but securing the victory.
The same man started the scoring in the fourth, with the Riders once again exchanging buckets with the Breakers as the two sides continued their high-level offence. Nate Robinson hit 10 points in just under 90-seconds to push the Breakers gap to 18 points in a run that included two three pointers.
The Riders were able to reduce the lead to just eight points, but it would be too little too late as the Breakers gap was enough to see out the closing minutes and secure an 11th league win of the season.
Tickets for this Saturday’s game vs Hemel are almost sold out as Jordan Spencer makes his return to Bletchley Leisure Centre. Tickets available HERE.
