By Marc Hinto, Stuff.co.nz

The Breakers believe young athletic phenomenon Tom Abercrombie is on the verge of making a major impact in the Australian NBL after his most promising performance of the season in Thursday's slump-busting win over the Melbourne Tigers.

While all the plaudits went to CJ Bruton and Rick Rickert after the 79-74 victory over the Tigers that took the Breakers to 2-2 for the new season and ended a five-game losing streak at the hands of Melbourne, Abercrombie's contribution was worth noting.

The 22-year-old with pogo sticks for legs had eight points and seven rebounds and only a poor free-throw shooting night (two-of-six from the charity stripe) prevented him joining Bruton (32 points) and Rickert (16 points/eight rebounds) as a double-digit offensive contributor.

But the way Abercrombie got after it on defence in the second half, as part of a Breakers unit that changed a game that was slipping from their grasp, and the three thunderous two-handed dunks he sent down as he slipped his defenders inside made him a key figure in the comeback victory.

It was a contribution that was well noted after the match.

"What's pleasing about Tom is he started to find in the second half some physicality at the defensive end, and started fighting through some screens and wasn't getting cleaned up," said coach Andrej Lemanis. "Sammy [Mackinnon] is as strong a player as you'll find in the league and Sam couldn't just push him out of the way. That's huge step for Tom, as he starts to understand how good he can be if he just has a dogged mindset about it."

Bruton, who inspired a Breakers comeback from 14 down in the third quarter, said everyone at the club could see the potential the long-armed Abercrombie had.

"Tom is a great leaper, he's got a great mind and he's still learning the ropes along with Alex Pledger and Cory Webster. As long as we keep working on those guys, everybody is going to come together down the stretch."

Experienced forward Tony Ronaldson, who slotted back into the starting lineup in the absence of the injured Kirk Penney, believes his young team-mate is ready to go up a level.

"He's just got to hit that switch," said the 22-year NBL veteran. "He can be a lock-down person, a Jason Smith and go out there and really shut some people down offensively. He's so athletic, his confidence will come and he's got that avenue to the basket where he can just jump over people."

The Breakers were also rallying behind out-of-sorts import Awvee Storey who had a poor night against the Tigers mercifully ended when Lemanis pulled him mid-third quarter and left him sitting the rest of the way. Storey went just one-of-six from the field and looked a lost soul on offence.

They all pointed to the fact that Storey had shifted from power to small forward in the offensive system and needed time to get into sync with the requirements of that position.

"He's a big part of our team this year," said Ronaldson. "We need to have something extra to get to a championship level. Added Lemanis: "Had he knocked down a couple of shots you could have said he played great, but he still helped us on defence. He's now got another week and he'll get better in that spot."

But clearly the Breakers' major task now as they confront a period of up to four weeks without MVP Penney as he mends his strained back is to get Storey on the same page as the rest of the team.

Ronaldson rated the Tigers win as a defining sort of performance. "We're sort of searching for our identity in a way. We've added some new people, roles have changed, and we still haven't found it. But this result gives us a lot of confidence"

Tigers coach Al Westover had no doubts that the Kiwis would be there or thereabouts, with or without their Penney's worth. "The league this year is going to be very even, but with their home court advantage, their talent, they're definitely going to be one of the top teams."