In a matchup of the top two teams in the WCBL, the Santa Barbara Breakers mustered a strong fourth quarter push to defeat the Newport Beach Surf 120-112 Saturday in the Sports Pavilion.
The Breakers fell behind early in the first quarter as they failed to stop the Surf from getting into the lane and creating havoc. Santa Barbara was kept afloat by Josh Merrill, who poured in 35 points on the night after struggling to recover from a heel injury.
“I think Josh looked pretty recovered,” said Breakers coach Curt Pickering. “He took over the game in the fourth quarter clearly.”
The fourth quarter indeed belonged to Merrill. His three pointer with 10:08 remaining gave the Breakers a 91-90 lead.
With 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter and Santa Barbara clinging to a 107-105 lead, guard Allan Purnell went down with an apparent knee injury. Purnell was helped off the court by two of his teammates and replaced by Isaiah Orange. According to Pickering, Purnell tore his ACL and is out for the remainder of the season.
Playing without one of their most consistent players, the Breakers turned to the dynamic duo of Tim Taylor and Merrill to insert the dagger into the Surf.
With 55 seconds remaining Taylor drove the lane and kicked it out to Merrill who got a very friendly roll to convert the three-point attempt. The basket gave the Santa Barbara a five point lead and sealed the victory.
“It actually didn’t feel that good and it probably didn’t look that good, but I got it to fall in,” Merrill said. “I got a great pass, it’s just good team basketball — when you play good basketball good things happen.”
The Breakers got back to playing good basketball after losing their first WCBL game in history last Sunday, falling to the Ventura Jets 115-107. To make matters worse, they were bumped from first place on Tuesday when the Surf defeated the Pasadena Slam to improve to 5-1, giving them a half game lead in the standings over the Breakers heading into Saturday’s clash.
“It’s always a little more exciting when you’re playing a team that knows how to win, said Merrill. “It was a good win for us tonight.”
Ventura held the lead for most of the first half. Surf guard Terrell Hendricks nailed a three-pointer as time expired in the first quarter to give Newport Beach a 28-26 lead.
In the second, Tim Taylor began heating up by leaking out for easy buckets in transition, but the Surf closed the half strong, taking a 57-52 lead before Merrill’s two-point jump shot closed the margin to 54-57 at halftime.
The tide began to turn in the third quarter when Santa Barbara started to pick up the tempo, utilizing the athleticism of wing players Zack Fray and Isaiah Orange.
“It was a big win because we’re coming off a loss and we were playing the top team,” Fray said. “We play them again on Tuesday so we got to bring it every night.”
The Surf stayed in the game by driving hard to the basket and creating free-throw opportunities. Breakers forward Mark Dawson’s rebound and put back with one minute remaining in the third quarter tied the score at 81. Dawson scored 17 on the night in his first home game of the season.
The Breakers next home game is at 7:05 p.m. Saturday In the Sports Pavilion against the Pasadena Slam.
