Johnson shoots JackJumpers to stunning win

Character shines when you're tested the most and the Tasmania JackJumpers came up huge on Sunday with David Johnson the hero with seven three-pointers in what could prove a crucial 91-89 win over the New Zealand Breakers.

The JackJumpers were back home at MyState Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon fresh off an overtime loss in Cairns on Friday and played host to the Breakers without the services of Will Magnay, Bryce Hamilton, Sean Macdonald and Ben Ayre.

New Zealand were breathing down the necks of Tasmania too so sixth position was on the line but right from the outset the JackJumpers were locked in and Johnson was setting the tone to pick up the offensive slack in the absence of Hamilton especially.

He had 22 points to his name already by half-time and then with 13.5 seconds on the clock, he hit his seventh three-point bomb of the game that proved the match winner in a critical win for Tasmania.

The JackJumpers now improve to a 13-17 record on the season to remain sixth ahead of the Breakers who are now 11-18.

Johnson had a spectacular performance with the 7/11 three-point shooting on his way to 33 points while Majok Deng, Tyger Campbell and Josh Bannan all played more than 35 minutes.

Deng finished with 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks while going 7/7 at the foul line with front court partner Bannan having 16 points, 11 boards and five assists with 5/5 free-throw shooting.

Campbell ended up with nine points and nine assists with Nick Marshall contributing 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Anthony Drmic six points and three rebounds with two first half three-pointers.

Izaiah Brockington top-scored for New Zealand with 24 points on 6/7 three-point shooting with Tai Webster adding 15 points, and Parker Jackson-Cartwright 14 with seven rebounds and five assists.

The JackJumpers started impressively with scores to David Johnson and Majok Deng and by the time Johnson hit the first three of the game, the home team was leading 15-8.

Tyger Campbell and Anthony Drmic also landed three-pointers before quarter-time which saw the JackJumpers leading 25-22 despite the Breakers scoring the last five points.

Johnson then came out on fire to start the second quarter scoring Tasmania's first seven points to help his team to the six-point lead before Drmic landed a three ball to start a 5-0 run that pushed that advantage out to nine.

Johnson knocked down another pair of three balls to go into half-time with 22 points to his name with 4/6 from deep but a buzzer-beating three from Parker Jackson-Cartwright for New Zealand cut the JackJumpers lead to 53-47 at the break.

It was a three-point barrage to start the third quarter with Johnson and Nick Marshall hitting one each for the JackJumpers as did Izaiah Brockington, Rob Loe and then Brockington again for the Breakers.

The JackJumpers were able to push out to the first double-figure lead of the game but again the Breakers finished the quarter well to bring Tasmania's lead back to seven at three quarter-time.

New Zealand then scored nine of the first 12 points of the fourth frame to be back within one and they grabbed their first lead of the game with 1:30 with Jackson-Cartwright scoring following a triple from Brockington.

Josh Bannan and Karim Lopez then traded scores before Johnson put Tasmania back up two with his seventh three of the game and that was the game winner when Jackson-Cartwright was off target up the other end.

The JackJumpers now remain at home to host the Brisbane Bullets on Friday night in what is the annual Teal Game to raise funds and awareness for the SHE Gynaecological Cancer Group.

HUNGRY JACK'S NBL SEASON 2025/26 – PRIDE ROUND

TASMANIA JACKJUMPERS 91 (Johnson 33, Deng 17, Bannan 16)

NEW ZEALAND BREAKERS 89 (Brockington 24, Webster 15, Jackson-Cartwright 14)

BOX SCORE