Keen to continue their excellent run of form, MK Breakers Men made the cross-country journey to take on Essex Rebels in their latest British Championship Basketball outing.
The home side had lost each of their last three games before Saturday’s encounter at Essex Sports Arena, with Breakers looking to build on last week’s victory over COB Rockets and keep pace with the league leaders.
With all five starters on the scoresheet inside the opening three minutes, it seemed they were set to do just that, but two threes from Kyron Martin gave Rebels the lead at the end of the first quarter.
Breakers would regain the advantage behind a superb 12-0 run in the second, Jordan Spencer and Xavier Wilson leading the way to secure a four-point half-time lead. Yet again the home side would battle back into the game however, tying things up at the end of the third.
The scores remained even going into the last five minutes, only for the Breakers to make one final push. Three consecutive threes from Chase Thompson put them into the lead, before Ben Baker grabbed five points of his own to secure an 84-74 victory as the pair – who both ended with 19 points – shared Player of the Game honours.
“We certainly made it difficult for ourselves, but we’re glad to be leaving here with the win,” said Head Coach Ben Stanley shortly afterwards. “At this point in the season, we need to find more consistency with our intensity and our execution, we’ll need both to be successful down the stretch.”
The win leaves Breakers third in the table, raising the stakes for next Saturday’s home game against Newcastle Knights even higher. Tip off at Bletchley Leisure Center will be at 17:00, with tickets for that meeting with the league leaders available here.
