MK Breakers travelled north on Friday night, visiting the Harvey Haddon Sports Village and taking on Nottingham Hoods in a British Championship Basketball encounter.
The team was given a major boost as Jordan Spencer returned to the lineup after injury, taking his place in the starting five alongside Dashawn Jackson, Jonas Dieterich, Chase Thompson and Xavier Wilson.
That unit clicked immediately, jumping out to a 10-0 lead to start the game and forcing Hoods to call an early timeout. Yet it seemed to have very little impact as Breakers renewed commitment to defence saw them repeatedly getting stops, heading into halftime with a commanding 42-25 advantage.
Hoods would rebound literally and figuratively in the third quarter however, dominating on the boards and capitalising on second-chance points to cut into that deficit. Yet in the final frame, it would once again be the Breakers who grabbed control of the game, widening their lead to as many as 26 points before eventually securing an impressive 81-55 victory.
Unsurprisingly it would be behind a solid Player of the Game performance from Jordan Spencer, the Captain almost recording a triple-double as he weighed in with 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.
But his team-mates made major contributions too, most notably Chase Thompson (15pts, 5 rebounds, 4 steals) and Xavier Wilson who stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, one steal and one block.
“It was a really committed performance from the guys,” said Breakers Head Coach Ben Stanley. “We really looked to execute the gameplan and put a tough Hoods team under pressure to hold them to such a low shooting percentage.”
“Our next steps will be to work on our consistency and not have those spells where we lapse or go away from what’s working.”
Ben and the team will now enjoy a rare weekend off, returning to action next Saturday when Reading Rockets visit Bletchley Leisure Centre. Tip-off is at 17:00 and tickets are available here.