A new era of Milton Keynes Breakers basketball began on Saturday. With Coach Ben Stanley on the sidelines for his first game in charge, Oaklands Wolves were the visitors for a friendly at Bletchley Leisure Centre.
The starting five was an interesting mix of familiar faces and some new acquisitions, as Jordan Spencer led out the team next to long-standing team-mate Chris Tawiah. Mike New Jr made his long awaited return to action, joined by the experienced Jonas Dieterich and new American guard Dashawn Jackson.
In the opening minutes, Oaklands managed to keep pace with the home side but Breakers soon turned up the intensity. Having allowed their opponents to score 9 points by the 5:00 mark of Q1, they held the visitors scoreless for the rest of the period, reaching the break with a 33-9 lead.
As he so often has, Jordan Spencer set the tone. With 18 points from just nine shots in total, he also grabbed six rebounds and five assists in just 25 minutes of playing time. Jackson was the leading scorer with 20, while Oaklands had no answer for Tawiah as he weighed in with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Mike New Jr looked impressively sharp as he contributed 16 points and 8 rebounds of his own, while the big lead allowed Coach Stanley to experiment with his lineups. No fewer than four MK5D Academy players got into the game, Kalvin Oates knocking down two threes on his way to eight points.
When the buzzer sounded to end the game, Breakers had won 111-61. The team are back in action at Bletchley next Saturday, with a friendly against Nottingham Hoods tipping off at 17:00.
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