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Find your frequencyBreakers survive late Kings rally in NBL nailbiter
Steve Barrett, AAP • October 15th, 2026 7:09 am
Sam Mennenga 27 points and 13 rebounds have helped the Breakers to a thrilling NBL win over Sydney | Photo: Zain Mohammed/AAP
The New Zealand Breakers have survived a furious late rally from the Sydney Kings to prevail 102-101 in a heart-stopping NBL Ignite Cup clash.
The Breakers looked assured of a routine victory when they led by 13 points with less than two minutes left at Canberra's AIS Arena on Wednesday night, before Kings import Torrey Craig went on a three-point shooting tear.
He drilled three unanswered triples in the space of 40 seconds to slash NZ's lead from 98-85 to 98-94.
After a Xavier Cooks dunk, Craig drained yet another trey - his seventh for the game - to make it 101-99.
He then tipped out a free throw from Breakers big man Sam Mennenga, but couldn't quite bury an eighth three, his late miss tipped in by Tyler Robertson.
Torrey Craig threatened to snatch the game for Sydney before the Breakers held on | Photo: Robbie Stephenson/AAP
Kiwi-born duo Mennenga (27 points, 13 rebounds) and makeshift point guard Carlin Davison (20 points, 14 assists) were enormous for NZ, still without injured superstar Parker Jackson-Cartwright.
"It's tough with Parker out, but a real positive thing is we've found another point guard," Breakers coach Gordie Herbert said of Davison, after his team rose to fourth on the ladder.
"We had a really good third quarter.
"We got back into the game because I thought they had all the momentum going into halftime."
Craig (28 points), Makuach Maluach (19), Xavier Cooks (18) and Kendric Davis (17) did Sydney's heavy lifting.
By quarter-time, Mennenga already had 12 points, while Davison had hit two threes as NZ led 31-27.
Maluach got off the chain in the second term, following back-back threes with a steal and lay-up to give the Kings the lead.
He then dunked on Dejan Vasiljevic's head, before hitting a runner on the halftime bell for a 61-51 buffer.
The Kings' offence spluttered badly in the third quarter as the Breakers, who had trailed 59-47 before halftime, dominated the quarter 24-12.
Davison appeared to put the contest to bed when he engineered an 8-0 spree - a strong three-point play followed by slick assists for a King dunk and Reuben Te Rangi triple - which blew the Breakers' cushion out to 98-85, before Craig's whirlwind late assault.
"The first quarter was tough, (then) we tightened up and played better in the second quarter," Sydney coach Brian Goorjian said.
"I don't know if it's a weardown factor with playing the main group (for) a lot of minutes. When I went to the bench (after halftime), the line-ups were uncomfortable."
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