Tom Abercrombie has eclipsed a club record while leading the NZ Breakers to a drought-breaking 77-74 win over the Townsville Crocodiles to keep their NBL playoff hopes alive.
Abercrombie's game-high 21 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in Auckland on Friday ensured the defending champions snapped a six-game losing streak.
It still wasn't vintage Breakers but they did enough, particularly defensively, to improve their record to 12 wins and 12 losses.
It sets up a pivotal showdown between the fifth-placed Breakers and the fourth-placed Adelaide 36ers in Adelaide (13-10) on Wednesday.
Small forward Abercrombie became his club's leading scorer, surpassing the former mark of 2517 held by Kirk Penney when sinking two free throws in the opening minute.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Abercrombie also drilled two crucial free throws in the dying moments to keep his team in front. Leading 71-59 with 90 seconds remaining, some late shooting wobbles and poor options created tension for the hosts.
Abercrombie's standout night also made amends for his uncharacteristically scoreless outing when the Breakers crashed to an 89-66 loss in Townsville last week.
Almost as influential was centre Charles Jackson, whose 15 points was matched by 15 rebounds.
Prolific guard Corey Webster was kept scoreless in the first half but sunk four three-pointers after the break.
Crocodiles guard Jordair Jett scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half as his seventh-placed team sunk to a 9-16 record.
They failed to match the physical rebounding of the hosts, who were marginally better from the free-throw line compared with their inept efforts of recent weeks.
