Breakers’ turn it up in the second-half to book semi-final spot

MK Breakers are looking to do the Cardiff double to progress to the NBL 3 Play-Off Final this weekend at Bletchley Leisure Centre.

The runaway Division 3 East winners booked their spot in the semi-final with a 107-70 win over Cardiff City on Sunday, setting up a clash with Cardiff Met Archers this Saturday for a spot in the final.

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The Breakers would begin the game at a scintillating rate, racking up 11 points unanswered thanks to baskets from Blayne Freckleton, Langley and Jordan Spencer.

During this time, Cardiff put themselves in foul trouble which caused them difficulty getting into any kind of rhythm on the offensive end, whilst struggling to keep up with the intensity of the Breakers’ own scoring output.

As the quarter progressed, the visitors settled into the game and the top-seeded Breakers lost some steam offensively allowing Cardiff City to find a footing in the matchup, eventually bringing it to a two-point game at the end of the first period, with the score 22-20.

The second quarter was similarly intense, with both sides going back-and-forth grappling over the lead. Mike New Jr and Spencer led the way for the home side, combining for 16 of the team’s 18 total points.

New Jr had a standout performance this game, stuffing the statsheet and doing so efficiently (17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists). New Jr is an experienced and integral piece for this title-winning Breakers side: previously playing in NBL 1, he proved that he could be relied upon during a tricky stretch of the game where the Breakers’ offence wasn’t firing on all cylinders.

For the visitors, Wilkes scored 11 of their 22 points in the quarter as the sides went in tied on 40 points each at half-time.

But the sides would not be on level pegging for long as Breakers got into their stride in the third quarter, racking up 42 points to put them in prime position to progress. Langley opened the scoring with a nice lay-up off the bounce pass from Freckleton, and would go onto score another 10 in succession including an and-1 play and a spot-up 3-point shot in front of the Cardiff City bench.

Langley led the Breakers in scoring with a huge 33 points on 70 per cent shooting from the floor as they led 82-55 heading into the final quarter, which they saw out to claim the comfortable 37-point win.

Breakers now turn their attention to another side from Wales: the Cardiff Met Archers. The Archers won the NBL 3 South West league and look to be a formidable outfit.