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Awvee Storey gets assaulted by the Blaze defence - Source: Photosport -
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The Gold Coast Blaze put on a shooting clinic on Thursday night to hand the Breakers their first home loss of the season 110-96.
The visitors had all-but sealed the win by halftime when they led by 17 points in front of a vocal North Shore Events Centre crowd.
Gold Coast drained a perfect 10-of-10 three-point attempts in the first half and closed out the game 14-of-19 from beyond the perimeter.
Add to that an overall 65% from the field and 83% from the free throw stripe and the visitors were near unstoppable.
At the other end of the floor their defence was suffocating, with the Breakers unable to get anything going until it was too late.
Adam Gibson (26 points, six assists) and James Harvey (19 points) were the chief destroyers for the Blaze while Ayinde Ubaka also scored 19.
CJ Bruton as the best of the Breakers with 17 points and five rebounds while Tony Ronaldson had 16 points.
The Breakers were off to a solid start after Rick Rickert continued his perfect run of tip-off wins on home court this season.
Bruton and Oscar Forman both drilled three-pointers early to give the hosts a leg up, although James Harvey struck back with three triples of his own for Gold Coast.
A stunning shooting percentage graced the Blaze throughout the opening quarter but the Breakers managed to battle to a 24-23 advantage at the first split.
The tight tussle continued in the second period with the visitors doing a great job on defence, especially targeting Bruton with double-teams.
Gold Coast snatched the lead midway through thanks to a clutch three from Adam Gibson.
Missed shots kept the Breakers' percentages sinking downward while the Blaze continued to shoot the lights out at the other end.
By halftime the Blaze were a perfect 10-from-10 from beyond the perimeter with a huge 17-point lead (62-45).
Gibson already had a huge 18 points with four triples - the Breakers powerless to stem the flow of lethal shooting.
Things weren't getting any better coming out of the locker rooms with a tired New Zealand defence getting ripped apart.
As frustration set in, the Breakers lost rhythm and allowed the Blaze out to an 87-68 buffer at three quarter time.
Despite a desperate succession of three-point attempts the Blaze were simply way too far in front.
The loss relegates the Breakers back down to a .500 record after eight games.
The Breakers (4-4) are back at home next Thursday night against the Perth Wildcats.
Blaze 110: (Gibson 26, Harvey 19, Ubaka
19)
Breakers 96: (Bruton 17, Ronaldson 16, Abercrombie
13)
Halftime: Blaze 62-45
