Mooney, Fall get Breakers back to winning

Matt Mooney embraced the extra responsibility for the New Zealand Breakers and he along with Tacko Fall inspired their team to the drought breaking 92-68 win over the Cairns Taipans.

The Breakers arrived at the Cairns Convention Centre having lost all eight games since adding Fall into the line-up and missing MVP candidate Parker Jackson-Cartwright who was suspended after their Christmas loss to Tasmania.

New Zealand showed a performance full of heart to dominate a listless Taipans outfit with Mooney delivering 23 points and 10 assists, and Fall 21 points and 11 boards in 16 minutes.

The last NBL game of 2024 pitted the two coldest teams against one another with the Snakes having lost 14 straight and not tasted a victory since beating Melbourne United all the way back on October 6.

The Breakers' last win had been also in Cairns back on November 16 and they returned to make a point of utilising the size advantage of Fall early on.

It worked a treat too as he scored 10 points in the opening four minutes and the Breakers opened up a 19-7 lead before turning that into a 14-point advantage during the second period.

New Zealand were still up 10 by half-time with Fall producing 16 points in just over nine minutes with the Snakes ice cold shooting 36 per cent from the field and 29 from three.

Mooney took control in the second half for the Breakers and he hit two threes in the third quarter to help the lead to 18 by three quarter-time, and it was out to as much as 26 in the fourth.

New Zealand cruised to the drought breaking 24-point win from there on shooting 54 per cent from the field despite going 14/27 at the foul line.

Sam Mennenga enjoyed his return to Cairns with 11 points and five rebounds while Max Darling provided nine points.

Breakers coach Petteri Koponen was full of praise for his team afterwards, particularly Mooney and Mitch McCarron (eight points, five rebounds, three assists).

"I have to give big credit to Matt Mooney and Mitch McCarron especially Mitch who it hasn’t been easy for during the season behind Parker," he said.

"But tonight how he controlled the game together with Matt, we were sharing the ball excellent and also defensively we were great, and Mojave King did a great job with Rob Edwards.

"This guy (Fall) next to me also was amazing and impactful with all his minutes that he was on the floor."

It was a horror loss for Cairns who have now lost 15 straight at 3-16 as they shot 32 per cent while having 14 turnovers from which New Zealand scored 24 points off.

Tanner Groves battled hard for 21 points and eight rebounds with Sam Waardenburg providing 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The struggles of Rob Edwards (16 points, five turnovers, 2/11 shooting) and Taran Armstrong (two points, three turnovers, 1/10 shooting) was problematic.

"Obviously disappointed because it was a good turnout and the fans were fantastic and packed the place out for New Year's Eve," Taipans coach Adam Forde said.

"Everything was just a bit of a grind and it just needed one team to string together a few in-a-row, and New Zealand were the ones and then as you saw the result looked terrible."

Tacko Fall was the focal point inside for New Zealand and they were able to take full advantage early on, and point guard Mitch McCarron was instrumental in making that happen after getting the start.

The Breakers scored seven straight points to lead 7-2 and then went on another 12-2 run to lead 19-7 with Fall having 10 of those 19 points.

New Zealand turned that into a 21-15 lead by the end of the first quarter while making 8/19 from the floor opposed to 5/19 from the Taipans, and having nine second chance points to two.

Fall scored another couple of early buckets in the second period and then the Breakers went on a 7-0 run to lead by 12, and it soon got to 13 with another Max Darling three, and then 14 with a Jonah Bolden finish.

Cairns answered with six consecutive points but New Zealand had all the answers to go into half-time leading 47-37 with the Breakers 5/13 free-throw shooting helping to at least keep the Snakes in touch.

Even with Fall not reappearing until six minutes into the third quarter, New Zealand again build on their lead and it was back to 14 when Matt Mooney knocked down his second triple of the contest.

The Breakers then finished the third quarter with the last six points with the last five of those courtesy of Mooney as the lead grew to 18, and then was out to 20 early in the fourth frame.

New Zealand continued to capitalise on careless Cairns turnovers to see the lead grow to as much as 26 before the Breakers returned to the winner's list in style with the 24-point win.

The Taipans now have the challenge of taking on the league-leading Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong on Friday who are fresh off their own New Year's Eve defeat.

The Breakers will be back at home on Sunday to play host to the Perth Wildcats in the second of five games Parker Jackson-Cartwright is suspended for.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2024/25

CAIRNS TAIPANS 68 (Groves 21, Edwards 16, Waardenburg 11)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 92 (Mooney 23, Fall 21, Mennenga 11)

BOX SCORE