The Breakers struggled in the first half in the absence of the injured Kirk Penney, and looked set for their third loss in succession as they had no answer to Tigers stars Mark Worthington, Sam Mackinnon and Daryl Corletto.
But the Tigers did not cope when the Breakers lifted their defensive intensity in the second half as the host battled back to inflict the Tigers' first defeat of the season.
The Breakers got off to a good start with seven quick points from Bruton helping them to an 11-6 lead.
But with Worthington taking command on offence and the defence tightening, the Tigers went on a 13-2 run to take a 19-13 lead, and they led 21-16 at quarter time.
Quick points from Oscar Forman helped the Breakers back to within two points shortly into the second quarter, but the Tigers were soon back on their game.
The Breakers seemed unable to land a shot for much of the quarter, falling 12 points behind at one stage and ending the half trailing 30-39.
It looked to be more of the same in the third quarter as the Tigers stretched their lead to 14 at one point.
But the Breakers' defence lifted, Bruton's shooting started to get hot and the home team's interpassing started to gel as an 18-5 run saw them just two behind at three-quarter time.
A Bruton three-pointer put the Breakers back in front soon after the restart but the Tigers re-established a lead with good shooting from Mackinnon and Luke Kendall as Forman fouled out of the game.
However, Bruton and Rick Rickert stepped up on offence, and 11 unanswered points midway through the final quarter gave the Breakers a buffer they did not give up.
Bruton led the scoring with 32 points. Rickert added 16, and led the home team's rebounding with eight.
Mackinnon and Corletto led the scoring for the Tigers with 13 each. Worthington added 11 and led the rebounding with eight.
