CLAIMING their first win under interim head coach Darryl McDonald, the Brisbane Bullets made the most of home court advantage to defeat the New Zealand Breakers by 14 points in the National Basketball League (NBL).

The Bullets hosted the Breakers at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in a rare Monday night clash, looking to break their seven game losing streak, with a lot of those coming with a hefty margin. New Zealand had been one of the form teams of the NBL over the past month, and although the visitors lost their last two matches coming in, were still favoured to get the job done.

However, a magnificent first half set up a barnstorming performance from the home side, with Brisbane going back to basics on the offensive end and cruising home to a 14-point win in front of its home fans as Christmas came early for those in attendance.

Brisbane Bullets (99) def. New Zealand Breakers (95)

The Bullets looked an immediately better side to open the match, with import Terry Taylor backing up his strong showing in defeat earlier in the round to maintain that momentum on the scoring front. He dropped a pair of three-pointers on his way to 10 points in the first quarter alone, and at the opening change, it was Brisbane that held a six-point buffer in a strong showing at home.

The home side maintained their dominance rolling into the second quarter, with big man Tyrell Harrison beginning to have his way inside. The center is somewhat of a barometer for the Bullets, and once he began to throw down some big dunks inside, the rest of the team followed suit as the margin ballooned out to 19 points before being brought back to 15 at the main break.

The Breakers tried to make some adjustments coming out of half time, but could not make any inroads in the third quarter. Brisbane was proving simply too hard to stop on the offensive end, and the Bullets continued to pile onto the 56 first-half points they dropped at home. With the margin sitting at 16 points at three-quarter time, it was all but over.

New Zealand did make one final run in the final frame, doing enough to unsettle fans at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre. However, a three-pointer from NBA Champion Alex Ducas gave the Bullets clarity that they had done enough to claim the win, as the hosts cruised home to a comfortable victory, which they had not experienced in quite some time.

Harrison proved to be the star of the show, thriving in McDonald’s offensive systems – which saw the big man be the focal point of most sets – and finishing with an enormous 24 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three blocks in a magnificent performance on both ends of the floor.

Ducas nailed four three-pointers to finish with 18 points of his own in one of his best performances in the NBL, while Taylor dropped all of his 14 points in the first half to help the team to a handy buffer and Javon Freeman-Liberty delivered 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists in a stat-stuffing performance.

As he always does, point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright fought bravely for the Breakers despite being up against it all night, dropping 13 points in a tough first half before finishing the match with 26 on 4/6 three-point shooting.