Herbert was quick to praise the impact of the home crowd, and the effort of his players.
“First of all, I want to thank the crowd that was here, it was a good crowd and working towards that sixth man mentality. I congratulate our players, I thought their effort was outstanding, we had some really good individual efforts but I thought our team mentality was great first and foremost,” the coach said.
The two debutants in the starting line-up, Vasiljevic and Bediako, were early contributors as the Breakers opened a 13-4 lead. When Te Rangi added to the advantage with his first points of the night, he became just the eighth Kiwi to score 2000 points in the NBL.
The Hawks responded late in the first quarter and at one point threatened to lead, however the hosts stayed composed to lead 28-24 at quarter-time.
The Hawks scored the opening five points of the second period and did take the lead, although that was quickly eradicated as Mennenga and Jackson-Cartwright combined for 10 points, the dominant duo almost sensing a need for them to step up.
“Third quarter, we responded and made a good run, Reuben gave us great minutes off the bench, at both ends of the floor, he made some shots but also his defensive presence, he won some battles. I thought our fight and winning battles was a big key to us taking a comfortable lead there,” Herbert said.
The visitors struck back with triples from Harvey and Blanchfield before Vasiljevic replied in kind for the Breakers. Bediako was the recipient of a delicious Jackson-Cartwright assist to complete the alley-oop play and carry the Breakers to a 54-47 halftime lead, much to the delight of an increasingly engaged home crowd.
Vasiljevic continued with the hot hand to extend the Breakers lead into double figures in the opening exchanges of the second half. The Hawks rallied in the closing stages of the third to close within seven points (68-61) only for Te Rangi to hit back-to-back triples and Jackson-Cartwright a pull-up jump shot to make it a 76-61 Breakers lead with a quarter to play.
With the mercurial Jackson-Cartwright pulling the strings an Illawarra comeback never threatened. Having swept the Hawks last season the win is the fifth straight victory against the Hawks for the Breakers.
The Breakers have a short turnaround as they visit the Brisbane Bullets on Tuesday.
Breakers 95 – Mennenga 27pts & 8rebs, Vasiljevic 24pts, Jackson-Cartwright 23pts & 13asts, Te Rangi 11pts, Bediako 6pts & 8rebs
Illawarra Hawks 81 – Hickey 18pts, Harvey 14pts, Martin 13pts