Fresh off their first win of the Australian NBL season, the Breakers have fallen to their first defeat of 2022, losing 89-78 to Melbourne United at their makeshift 'home' at Hobart.
The loss came just days after the Kiwi side's first win of the season, which put an end to their six-match losing streak.
The Breakers held a one-point lead at halftime, but on-fire United captain Chris Goulding was the difference in the second half, leading his side to a fifth straight victory.
Goulding raked up 5000 career points, while topscoring for his side with 23. The United star is just the second current player to reach the milestone, behind Adelaide's Daniel Johnson.
The Breakers put up a good fight, rallying back from a 15-point deficit in the final quarter, to close the gap to just six with impressive three-point shooting.
That was as close as they could get, before the defending champions put the game beyond doubt in the final minutes.
Breakers imports Jeremiah Martin and Peyton Siva both impressed off the bench, notching a combined 39 points.
Breakers coach Dan Shamir feels giving up three-quarters of their defensive rebounds was pivotal in the end result.
"Melbourne United is doing a good job on the defensive end," Shamir says. "My feeling is you need to win games like that with 78 points.
"We gave up 18 offensive rebounds, which makes it tough. It wasn’t a perfect game today.
"The challenge keeps on growing, but the team is functioning well. Everywhere I have been I don’t know a lot of places that would survive this, but we are.
"This is what we keep focusing on - the results. Even though they are not coming. We keep pushing on."
The Breakers remain at the bottom of the ANBL table, with a win/loss record of 1-7.
They'll look for their second win of the season, when they face Sydney Kings Sunday night at Sydney.
NZ Breakers 78 (Martin 20, Siva 19, Besson 17) Melbourne United 89 (Goulding 23, Lual-Acuil 22, Agada 16)
