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Breakers recruit Tacko Fall has made an instant impact in his NBL debut, but his promising display wasn't enough to stop his team being thrashed by Illawarra.
The Illawarra Hawks have overcome the headache of facing the tallest man to ever feature in the NBL to post a crushing 109-71 win over the NZ Breakers.
Standing at 229cm, new Breakers recruit Tacko Fall made a huge impact in his league debut with five blocks, five rebounds and four points in 14 minutes of action at the WIN Entertainment Centre on Thursday night.
The Senegalese centre, who featured for Cleveland and Boston in the NBA, almost beat the record for most blocks on NBL debut - the six set by American Bill Jones' in 1985.
But the Hawks still found a way to unleash a scoring barrage, with Lachlan Olbrich scoring a career-high 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting.
Trey Kell III (17 points) and Tyler Harvey (15 points) also chipped in to lift Illawarra (8-4) into second spot on the ladder.
"That was great fun," Olbrich told ESPN.
"That's Hawks basketball right there. That's how we want to play. That's how we win games."
NZ (7-4) slipped to third.
Fall had just three training sessions with his new teammates following a recent quad injury, meaning he could only be unleashed for short stints.
But the 28-year-old has all the hallmarks of becoming a cult hero in the NBL, especially as his fitness builds and he can spend longer periods on court.
NZ guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright scored just six points in the first half before finishing with 19, while Mojave King (11 points) was the only other Breaker to reach double figures.
The Breakers led 7-2 in the early stages of the match, but the rest of the first quarter belonged to Wani Swaka Lo Buluk as he inspired an astounding 30-5 run.
The largest previous lead at quarter time this season was 16 points, and the Hawks blew that out of the water as they headed to the first break with a 32-12 advantage.
Swaka Lo Buluk scored 13 points in the opening term alone.
The one rare shining light for NZ in the first term was the impact of Fall, who tallied three blocks and two rebounds in just over three minutes of court time.
His presence in defence forced the Hawks to shoot from range or go around him.
Any time they tried to drive to the hoop, he was there to deny their access or block their shot.
Illawarra's lead ballooned out to 25 points late in the second quarter before settling for a 52-29 advantage at the main break.
Fall already had five blocks to his name after two terms.
But in a damning halftime stat for the Breakers, they were a woeful 2-of-17 from long range and they lost the rebound count 30-21.
Illawarra's tactic of dealing with Fall was to try to body him as far away from the rim as possible.
The move worked a treat, with Fall tiring as the game wore on as Illawarra's speedy ball movement proved too hard to stop.