JackJumpers finish well to beat Breakers in Hobart

The Tasmania JackJumpers had to dig deep but they did exactly that to pull out the 88-86 win against the New Zealand Breakers at MyState Bank Arena on Good Friday to stay in the NBL finals hunt.

The JackJumpers had to fight all the way for the win and were down six midway through that final quarter, but they got the victory they needed to continue to be in the hunt for that fourth spot held by the Wildcats.

Tasmania now improves to 15-11 in their inaugural season to be hot on the heels of the struggling Perth who are 15-10.

Josh Adams came up huge for the JackJumpers with 23 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals with Jack McVeigh adding 16 points and six rebounds, MiKyle McIntosh 12 points and six boards, Matt Kenyon nine points and six rebounds, and Josh Magette seven points, eight assists and six rebounds.

Captain Clint Steindl added eight points and two assists for Tasmania, Jarrad Weeks six points, two rebounds and two assists, and Jarred Bairstow two points and two rebounds.

JackJumpers coach Scott Roth was beaming with pride over his team's fighting qualities post-match.

"It's not so much a sigh of relief, I'm just so proud of the guys and the culture the guys have built, and the grit and grind they show. They are fearless and keep fighting and fighting, and sometimes it goes our way and sometimes it doesn’t," Roth said. 

"Tonight is a great credit to them to eke out a game that was very difficult. We knew this was going to be a difficult game for us and I'm just proud of the way these guys continue to perform. It's been incredible and the last X amount of weeks has been unbelievable. I'm proud of them"

After two early free-throws for New Zealand to Tom Abercrombie, Tasmania got rolling with a triple from Jack McVeigh and and-one to Matt Kenyon. Then after a Rob Loe bucket, the JackJumpers hit the next eight points to suddenly lead 14-4.

New Zealand steadied out of a timeout including five straight points to Peyton Siva. He soon hit his second triple of the first term while Loe took his chance with six points and two blocks for the Breakers, but still after one the JackJumpers led 28-22.

Tasmania's lead grew to double-figures early in the second quarter, but New Zealand weren’t going away. Will McDowell-White hit a three to start a 7-0 run, and shortly after six consecutive points from Loe saw the Breakers snatch the lead.

It was only brief with four more Josh Adams points including a breakaway dunk helping Tasmania lead 45-44 at the half, but the game was in the balance.

Loe's huge night continued for New Zealand to start the second half and five quick points from the big man had his team back in front. He and Siva then combined for a 6-0 run to keep them on top, and triples from Hugo Besson and Chasson Randle saw them still lead by four.

Tasmania captain Clint Steindl hit a triple to make it a two-point game at three quarter-time before former teammates Loe and Jarrad Weeks traded three balls to open the fourth term.

The Breakers weren’t giving it up and it was Randle who put them back up six and the JackJumpers had to respond. They did firstly with a McVeigh three ball and then four points from Adams. They were back up three with a triple from Josh Magette with 3:30 on the clock.

A couple of huge plays from Adams at the rim ended up sealing the crucial win to keep the JackJumpers alive but it wasn’t without a scare with Abercrombie hitting one three late for New Zealand, and just missing another on the buzzer.

The JackJumpers back up on Sunday in Melbourne against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL ROUND 20

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 88 (Adams 23, McVeigh 16, McIntosh 12) 

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 86 (Loe 27, Siva 13, Bach 12)

BOX SCORE