Herculean effort from star point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright moves him up to 9th spot on the Breakers all-time scoring list.

The BNZ Breakers pushed the Wildcats to the final buzzer in Perth on Saturday night but came up just short despite a herculean effort from star point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright, going down 93-97.

The BNZ Breakers guard posted 30 points, 4 rebounds, 8 asists 3 steals and a block. In the process Jackson-Cartwright passed Finn Delany’s 1,684pts and moved up to 9th spot on the BNZ Breakers all-time scoring list.

As in the loss to the Brisbane Bullets earlier in the week the BNZ Breakers were still pressing for victory through the closing minutes. In a game with 12 lead changes, the BNZ Breakers were down four points atthree-quarter time but back-to-back dunks by Mojave King and Sam Mennenga made it a one-point game with six minutes to play.

Though the Wildcats stretched their advantage to 92-85 with three minutes to play the response came from Jackson-Cartwright as henailed a brace of deep threes. Time however was not on the side of the BNZ Breakers as they were forced to foul the Wildcats who were composed enough to ice the game from the free throw line.

On a night when usual contributors DJ Vasiljevic and Reuben Te Rangi were held to a combined two points it was King with 18 points (4 from 5 three-pointers) and Carlin Davison with 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, that provided Jackson-Cartwright with the greatest support.

Despite having early foul trouble, Mennenga tallied 12 points and 4 rebounds while Charles Bediako added 3 rebounds and a pair of blocks to his 8 points.

The BNZ Breakers came out of the blocks slowly, compounded by Mennenga being forced to the bench inside the first two minutes with two early fouls as the Wildcats established a nine-point lead.

Coach Herbert called time out and got a response, back-to-back steals and layups from Jackson-Cartwright and six straight points from Davison changed the complexion of the contest – the BNZ Breakers ahead 26-22 at quarter time.

Consecutive triples from King then propelled the BNZ Breakers to a ten-point lead, although that soon evaporated on the back of toomany turnovers.

The Wildcats closed to within a single point late in the second quarter, with Mennenga against sitting on the back of his third personalfoul. The athletic Davison had the final say of the half though – a couple of energetic finishes propelling the BNZ Breakers to a 51-47 lead at the interval.

The Wildcats scored the first eight points on the resumption before Jackson-Cartwright and King combined to level the scores at 60 points a piece. The two teams traded baskets at the back end of the third before a Dylan Windler triple, on the three-quarter time buzzer, gave the Wildcats a 76-73 lead.

The BNZ Breakers battled gamely in the final quarter butwere perhaps left to rue the fact that they lost the rebounding count 42-30, conceding 22 second chance points.

The BNZ Breakers departed Perth immediately after the game on Saturday on an overnight flight, returning to Auckland on Sunday to prepare for their first IGNITE Cup game of the season against Cairns on Wednesday September 30 at Spark Arena.

BNZ Breakers 93 – Parker Jackson-Cartwright 30pts, Mojave King 18pts, Carlin Davison 15pts, Sam Mennenga 12pts.

Perth Wildcats 97 – Dylan Windler 26pts, Elijah Pepper 25pts, KristianDoolittle 12pts

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