Point guard Izayah Le'afa has paced NZ Breakers to an overtime 71-68 win over Illawarra Hawks in their Aussie NBL pre-season opener at Franklin.
But the Auckland club watched a 19-point third-quarter advantage disappear over the dying minutes of regulation, before rallying for victory in the added period.
A 13-2 Hawks run gave them an early lead, before Le'afa and Aussie shooter Cam Gliddon caught fire from beyond the arc, propelling their side to a 23-9 second-quarter split and six-point halftime edge.
The Breakers opened the third quarter with a 13 unanswered points - including three-pointers to Gliddon and Tom Abercrombie - but fell four points behind with just over a minute to play, before power forward Jarrell Brantley converted a layup to force extra time.
Consecutive baskets from Brantley gave the Kiwis a lead they would not surrender, but they needed an offensive tip-in from American Dererk Pardon with 1m 48s left in overtime to provide the winning margin.
Lea'fa came off the bench to finish with 16 points, including four three-pointers, with Brantley providing 14 points and Pardon 10 points/12 rebounds. After an injury-plagued 2021/22 season, captain Abercrombie logged 26 minutes as a starter, while Gliddon shot 3/3 from long distance in a reserve role.
American James Robinson led all scorers with 26 points for the Hawks, slotting 12/15 from the free-throw line.
The Breakers will now contes the NBL Blitz tournament at Darwin, with games against Brisbane Bullets, Illawarra and champions Sydney Kings, before their season-opener at Melbourne United on October 2.
NZ Breakers 71 (Le'afa 16, Brantley 14, Pardon 10) Illawarra Hawks 68 (Robinson 26, Deng 15, Froling 12)
