Milton Keynes Breakers returned to NBL Division 2 action with a win as they overcame Oaklands Wolves 112-74 at Bletchley Leisure Centre.
It was a hotly contested opening few minutes with the Breakers forced to come from behind from the off as Oaklands Wolves took an early lead. Rudzinski and Pratt’s points gave the visitors a 4-0 lead, but Chris Tawiah and Buai Luak ensured that lead didn’t last as they levelled the scoring before Blayne Freckleton put the Breakers ahead for the first time.
Dante Langley converted his first three points of the encounter before Nate Robinson marked his home debut with two successful free throws. Langley then added a further four points in a matter of seconds to put the Breakers up by nine. Luke Gregory netted two successful lay ups to start his tally for the evening before Will Issekya saw his three point effort add to the scoring. The final points of the opening quarter came via Leon Henry, who converted his free throws to give the Breakers a 24-10 lead.
The break in play arguably halted the momentum of the game with both sides missing early baskets. The first points fell the way of Oaklands Wolves as Laquarne added three points to the scoring, the Breakers soon found their groove again as Robinson’s three point jump shot followed Chris Tawiah’s hookshot. The Wolves slowly reduced the Breakers lead cutting the advantage to nine points, but lay ups from both Freckleton and Gregory ensured they stayed out of reach.
Oaklands once again kept themselves within touching distance of the Breakers, but Spencer and Langley made sure the visitors couldn’t gain enough momentum as the Breakers duo put the Breakers up by 10 points. The young Oaklands Wolves, however, continued to fight and were within six points of the Breakers after Downing netted four points without return for this side.
Freckleton’s effortless three point effort restored the lead to nine points – with Jordan Spencer’s layup giving the Breakers a double digit lead once again. Freckleton then saw another three point effort converted following Tawiah’s lay up seconds earlier. Langley then closed out the half with his lay up seconds before the buzzer to give the Breakers a 49-35 lead at the break.
The Breakers came out firing after the interval with Chris Tawiah scoring four points within a minute of the restart. Buai Luak followed shortly after with two points of his own, before Tawiah’s dunk lifted those in Bletchley Leisure Centre to their feet. Spencer and Robinson and Gregory added the scoring to put the Breakers up by 24 points.
It was a more than impressive start to the third quarter from Billy Beddow’s side as they scored 19 points in just under four-minutes of action. The scoring continued with both Freckleton and Spencer adding to the tally to push the Breakers lead to 23 points, with Jordan Spencer converting from beyond the arc to take his tally to the evening to 14 points and putting the Breakers up 79-54 heading into the final quarter.
The Breakers maintained their high-level scoring in the early stages of the fourth with Buai Luak scoring two lay ups within a matter of seconds. Dante Langley followed shortly after with two points of his own before Robinson’s layup and hookshot pushed the Breakers lead to 34 points.
Buai Luak added four points following his lay ups, before Robinson’s three point effort took the Breakers to within three points of the 100-point mark. Leon Henry’s driving layup added another two to the scoreboard before Bradley Day ensured the Breakers would reach triple figures with his driving layup.
Henry added a further two points before Luak’s ‘and one’ play put the Breakers up by 38-points. Henry continued his fourth quarter scoring run adding another three points to his tally before Bradley Day closed out the evening with his three point jump shot securing a 112-74 victory for the Breakers.
Next up for the Breakers is a trip to the capital next weekend to take on a new and improved London Stars, who have recently added former-GB international Ryan Martin. The game will tip off at 2pm next Saturday, there are a few seats for fans available on the team bus that can be booked here.
