Having finished the regular season in fourth place, MK Breakers Men began their first ever playoff run in British Championship Basketball, Nottingham Hoods visiting Bletchley Leisure Centre in a hotly anticipated matchup.
Hoods arrived full of confidence, beating Breakers at the same venue just two weeks earlier before earning an upset victory over COB Rockets last weekend. That stood in stark contrast to their hosts, who had won just one of their last six fixtures going into the competition’s inaugural post-season.
That seemed to play a part in the opening exchanges here too, the visitors jumping out to an early 8-2 lead that forced Breakers to dig deep. It would initially be their veteran players who answered the call, Jonas Dieterich hitting back to back jump shots before a Jordan Spencer layup gave them their first lead of the night.
MK5D Academy star Kalvin Oates would knock down a three to extend their advantage, only for the visitors to tie the game at 17-17 before the end of the first quarter. Mike New Jr came up with some big shots in the second and third quarters, ensuring there was still nothing between the two teams going into the fourth.
Hoods opened up a lead with less than a minute to play, Donell Nixon hitting a pair of free throws to put them up by five. A smart move by Kai Williams saw him score a quick two, before a Dieterich steal gave Breakers possession straight back, eventually swinging the ball to Oates who knocked down a huge three to send the game into overtime.
In the extra period, a Blayne Freckleton triple got the scoring underway, before Williams scored seven consecutive points to put Breakers in control. With Hoods forced to foul, it would be the cool head of Mike New Jr that saw them home, knocking down five free throws to secure the 102-95 victory.
It also helped him to earn Player of the Game honours, ending the contest with 24 points to add to his seven rebounds and seven assists as he helped the team advance to next week’s semifinals.
“I’m really proud of what this group achieved tonight,” said Head Coach Ben Stanley. “We’ve overcome some serious adversity to earn a win against a well-prepared Hoods outfit that beat us by 20 points just two weeks ago.
“That should give us lots of confidence going into the semifinals, which we know will be tough but we’re excited to see what we can accomplish and we know the Breakers fans will be right behind us.”
The next round sees us take on Reading Rockets, with a 16:00 tip off set at Rivermead Leisure Centre on Sunday, April 26. Tickets are available here.