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Breakers Kirk Penny defends Tigers star Ebi Ere - Source: Photosport -
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Melbourne Tigers star Ebi Ere says he knew his team could end the New Zealand Breakers' basketball season once teammate Daryl Corletto landed a miracle buzzer-beating basket on Friday night.
The Breakers were five points up with four seconds left in the third quarter of their Australian National Basketball League semifinal in Auckland when they tried to get the ball up the court fast for a quick basket.
But instead their lob ended up with Corletto, whose shot from inside his own half went straight into the basket.
It meant the Breakers had only two points left of a lead that had been 16 shortly after the beginning of the third quarter, and it surprised nobody when the Tigers went to an eight point lead in the last quarter, a lead they held till the end.
Ere had sparked much of the comeback with a series of pressure jumpshots in the second and third quarters but he said Corletto's basket was vital in providing the momemtum for their eventual 103-97 victory.
"We came back in the third quarter but I don't think they were shook until he hit that shot," Ere said.
"When he hit that shot they kind of went in heads down, like `can anything worse happen'."
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis disagreed, saying his team were still ahead and in a position to win, but the momentum had clearly shifted.
The win meant the Tigers, the defending champions, won the best of three semifinal series 2-0 and earned a final place against either the South Dragons or the Townsville Crocodiles.
Third match
For most of the first quarter it looked like the Breakers would force a third match.
They were aggressive in defence and landed nearly all their shots and were 20 points up just before quartertime - before another Corletto buzzer-beater, this time from the three point line, brought the margin back to 17.
But the Tigers maintained cool heads despite the scoring and the passionate 4000-strong home crowd, slowly working their way back into the game.
Ere was aided in the second quarter by some smart work by bench player Stephen Hoare, and from the third quarter onwards by David Barlow, who contributed 19 points and seven rebounds despite having four fouls from midway through the second quarter.
CJ Bruton was the Breakers' best player, topscoring with 22. Kirk Penney and Phill Jones contributed 19 and 21 points, while Dillon Boucher did some very good work with assists and steals.
Tigers coach Alan Westover said he thought his team's experience and character helped them get over the line yesterday.
"It could have been easy for our fellows to say `this is going to be too tough tonight," Westover said.
"But we made some big plays in the next five or six minutes and no play was bigger than Corletto's on three-quarter time."
Westover said he hoped the Dragons could make it an all-Melbourne final but that he was confident the Tigers would be competitive against either possible final opponents.
Lemanis said he felt the season had still been a success as they had got further into the playoffs than the club had ever done.
He said the team had chances to score in the second half but couldn't make open shots when they were available.
"At the end of the day the absolute desperation hustle plays when they needed were made by them," he said.
"It's a disappointing way to go out, when you have your chances to win it when you're 20 up at home you think you'd find a way to win that game, but they're not the defending champions for nothing."
